Malacañang officials tried to stop Rodolfo Noel Lozada Jr. from testifying in the anomalous NBN-ZTE deal by sending him to Hong Kong on a contrived official trip.
When he decided to come back last Tuesday, the officials staged his abduction at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport on the basis of a cooked-up request for protection by Lozada.
Lozada told yesterday’s Senate hearing that his trip to Hong Kong last Jan. 30 was the idea of Deputy Executive Secretary Manny Gaite.
Inquirer story: Senate to include abduction in Friday hearing
The lawyer of First Gentleman Jose Mi-guel Arroyo yesterday said his client is not bothered by the allegations by ZTE witness Rodolfo Noel Lozada Jr. that he was involved in the deal, but was annoyed by the lies being peddled to the public and the media.
“He has no reason to react since there was no direct accusation or evidence against him,” Ruy Alberto Rondain said in a press conference at the LTA building in Makati.
Rondain said he requested a short meeting with the First Gentleman, who had just arrived from Europe, to discuss the issue but the latter said he did not want to get involved in politics.
Officers face new raps for resisting transfer
by Victor Reyes
Military officers accused of attempting to overthrow government two years ago were transferred yesterday to the Intelligence Service of the AFP in Camp Aguinaldo from the detention facility in Camp Capinpin in Tanay, Rizal.
The transfer of 24 of the 28 accused was ordered by AFP chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon to facilitate court martial proceedings which had been held in Camp Capinpin since December 2005. The military announced about two weeks ago that the proceedings will be transferred to Camp Aguinaldo.
A commotion erupted in Camp Capinpin as the accused were being prepared for transfer, according to Ma. Flor Querubin, wife of accused Col. Ariel Querubin.
From the Inquirer:
A “missing” key witness in the national broadband network (NBN) controversy surfaced early Thursday morning and detailed his recollections on the now-nullified government contract with China’s ZTE Corp. in a televised press conference.
Seated with bishops and nuns at the La Salle Greenhills gym in Mandaluyong City, in Metro Manila, starting at 2:30 a.m., Rodolfo Noel Lozada Jr. narrated chronically his experiences in the preparations of the NBN project with China’s ZTE Corp., including a direct threat made by the now-resigned elections chairman Benjamin Abalos and the apparent involvement of First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo.
Ang nangyari kay Rodolfo “Jun” Noel Lozada, presidente ng Philippine Forest Corporation, na kinidnap ng mga tauhan ni Gloria Arroyo noong Martes nang siya ay dumating galing London ay dapat maging leksyon sa marami pang may alam tungkol sa mga krimen na sangkot ang pamilyang Arroyo.
Habang tinatago nyo ang inyong alam, may motibo silang takutin, pahirapan at saktan kayo at ang inyong mga mahal sa buhay. Hindi kayo magiging safe kung makipag-tulungan kayo sa kanila.
Ang inyong kaligtasan ay isawalat ang katotohan. Alalahanin nyo ang kasabihan: “Truth will set us free.”
Situation in the detention center of in Camp Capinpin of officers facing mutiny charges for allegedly withdrawing support from Gloria Arroyo is tense. AFP Chief of Staff Hermogenes Esperon has ordered them transferred to Camp Aguinaldo today, the day before their scheduled hearing tomorrow. They are resisting because they have learned of a sinister plot to link them to a fake destabilization plot and they will be incarcerated in the dreaded ISAFP compound.
(See earlier statement: Concerned voices from Tanay).
They sent the following message through their lawyers:
The following document landed in my mailbox. It’s supposed to have been written by a certain Dante Madriaga. Read on for what it’s worth:
I am an electronic/electrical engineer by profession.I attended the University of the Philippines and Texas A&M University.I have been in the communications industry for over 30 years.
I was a part owner of a company in the LISP in Cabuyao, Laguna that exported microwave radio transmitters.I was involved in the original design of the ARESCOM proposal using a concept similar to what Joey De Venecia thought about .I have been involved in the preparation and design of the NBN ZTE proposal since the beginning.
by Dennis Gadil
Malaya
A team believed led by the security chief of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport “snatched” NBN-ZTE prime witness Rodolfo Noel Lozada from Senate arresting teams as he arrived yesterday.
Reports said Lozada, who flew in from Hong Kong at around 4:40 p.m., was apparently whisked off by retired general Angel Atutubo, NAIA assistant general manager for security, and was directly taken down to the tarmac to a waiting van.
Atutubo reportedly was a former aide of President Arroyo. The van went toward Villamor Airbase in Pasay City.
The following statement was issued by lawyers of officers detained in Camp Capinpin,Tanay,Rizal implicated in the alleged February 2006 plan to withdraw support from Gloria Arroyo. The 28 detained officers include Maj.Gen.Renato Miranda, Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim (detained in Camp Crame with Sen. Antonio Trillanes Iv and other Magdalo officers), Col. Ariel Querubin, Col. Custodio Parcon :
Another suspicious order concerning the Tanay detainees led by Maj. Gen. Renato Miranda, has been issued and is danger of being implemented to the detriment of the said detainees.
Such is yet another oppressive act committed against the same men who have submitted themselves to the legal processes of a military establishment that seems intent on depriving them of their rights.At the last hearing, both the defense counsels and the prosecution were directed by the court martial panel to make proposals (defense counsels) and counter-proposals (prosecution) on ways to efficiently conduct the proceedings. The meeting between prosecution and defense was conducted yesterday in Camp Aguinaldo. The proposals were as follows:
Update: JDV ousted; Nograles elected speaker
As parting shot, JDV cites litany of graft, abuse
Sinimulan ng nga mga kaalyado ng mga Arroyo ang paglista ng mga anomalya na sangkot si House Speaker Jose de Venecia bilang rason raw kung bakit siya patalsikin.
Inungkat ang PEA-Amari deal, Landoil, Northrail at iba pa. Sabi nila kaya raw mababa ang tingin ng taumbayan sa House of Representatives dahil sa maga anomalya raw na kinsasangkutan ni JDV.
Mabuti yan at sinimulan ng mga tao ni Arroyo ang maglabas ng baho.