17 years ago. The more things change, the more they remain the same.Last Saturday, I saw a front page of the Philippine Daily Inquirer on the Facebook wall of Pablo Tariman.
The headline was “Congress kickbacks:how much for whom”. There was an illuThe story was about pork barrel and there was an illustration using a lechon and how the roasted swine was being divided.
The upper fold story was “MNLF occupies four more towns in Zambo.” Another story was “Higher gas price begins tomorrow.”
I thought that was last Saturday’s issue until I noticed the initials CIA (Congressional Initiative Allocation) and CDF (Countrywide Development Fund). Those were the old name of PDAF (Priority Development Assistance Fund) .
A closer look at the page showed the date: Aug. 13, 1996.
Yes, the more things change, the more they remain the same.
Two news items yesterday recall to mind NBN/ZTE star whistleblower Rodolfo “Jun” Lozada and his meeting with President Aquino in Malacanang last February.
Benhur Luy, exposed Janet Napoles vast network of corruptionThe first news item was about the statement of the lawyer of Jane L. Napoles, who is in the center of the alleged P10 billion pork barrel scam, to file administrative and criminal charges against whistleblower Benhur Luy, formerly Napoles personal assistant.
The other news item was the downgrading by the Court of Appeals into “simple misconduct” of the Ombudsman’s ruling finding him guilty of grave misconduct for his role in the aborted $329 million National Broadband Network deal with the Chinese telecommunication firm, ZTE.
Romy Neri, for hiding the truth from the public, just a ‘simple miscounduct.’
Why Jun Lozada?
The two news items illustrate the risks that a whistleblower has to face if he decides to take on bigtime operators who have built deep and wide network within the government.
In the NBN/ZTE controversy, second only to the Hello Garci scandal as far as negative impact on the Arroyo administration, both Neri and Lozada were privy to the behind the scenes machinations that tripled the cost of the telecommuncations project.
Lozada’s friends wonder if Aquino’s attitude could have something to do with Lozada not consenting to his request in February 2008 for him (Aquino, who was then senator) to fetch the former in Hongkong, where he was told by then Environment Secretary Lito Atienza to hide so he could not testify in the Senate investigation of the NBN/ZTE deal.
It would have been a chance for Aquino, who had a lackluster record as senator, to shine.
President Cory Aquino spearheaded the “Mass for Truth and Accountability” in support of Jun Lozada in 2008.While waiting for the arrest warrant issued by the Sandiganbayan Fourth Division to be served to Rodolfo “Jun” Lozada, the government’s star witness in the NBN/ZTE plunder case against Gloria Arroyo, members of the Association of Major Religious Superiors of the Philippines wrote Police Chief Alan Purisima requesting, among others,to make sure that “no untoward incident” would happen.
The nuns must be thinking of last month’s incident in Batangas when Fernando Morales , allegedly linked with Vic Siman who was among those killed in the Atimonan massacre, was killed while policemen were serving his arrest warrant for illegal possession of firearms.
Morales was in his underwear and was dragged out of his house at 1:30 a.m.
The arrest warrant for Lozada had nothing to do with NBN/ZTE. It’s for his alleged violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act for allegedly awarding the leasehold right of a 6,599 hectare land to his brother Jose Orlando Lozada when he was still president of the Philippine Forest Corporation, a government-owned corporation.
Jun Lozada attending a Palm Sunday mass while under the protection of the nuns.For Rodolfo “Jun” Lozada, star witness in NBN/ZTE deal, one of the biggest scandals in the Arroyo administration, it’s like he and his family are back to where they were exactly five years ago when he was abducted by police officers and he had to seek refuge with the nuns.
They were informed by members of the Pasig City Police that the Sandigan Bayan has issued an arrest warrant for Lozada in connection with a graft case filed by Erwin Santos, the current president of Philippines Forest Corporation , and Arroyo’s hatchet man when the former was a resource person in the Senate investigation on the anomalous $320 million telecommunications.
It’s disturbing. So alarming that today (Feb.6), members of the Association of Major Religious Superiors of the Philippines are meeting with some members of the Aquino cabinet at the Department of Justice at 9 a.m.on Lozada’s situation. Would Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda be there? Lacierda was the lawyer of Lozada when they were still working to bring down Gloria Arroyo.
Whistleblower Rodolfo “Jun” Lozada could be the perfect example of how, in this country, people like him who dare spill the beans on wrongdoing get punished, not rewarded. It is a practice that he said must change under the administration of President Benigno Aquino III.
Three years after he faced the Senate as star witness exposing the corruption-ridden contract for a national broadband network, Lozada still faces a slew of lawsuits while the people he has accused of making millions of pesos in commissions have mostly escaped sanctions.
“Masigasig sila sa kakahabol sa kaso ko, eh (They’re determined to pursue the cases against me),” said Lozada, who still faces a P19.5-million malversation case related to the jathropa project of the Philippine Forest Corp. which he used to head. He also faces a graft case allegedly for the anomalous purchase of motor vehicles, fencing materials and other equipment worth P15 million.
Tomorrow, friends and supporters of Rodolfo “Jun” Lozada, one of the star witnesses in the $329.5 million aborted telecommunications deal with China’s ZTE Corp, will trace his harrowing experience with the minions of Gloria Arroyo on Feb. 5, 2008.
There will be a mass at the La Salle Greenhills chapel at 7 p.m.
I sent Lozada questions on his thoughts today and here are his answers:
Q:One year after, you are still living under the protective custody of La Salle brothers and the nuns. Do you regret exposing the NBN/ZTE anomaly? If you can turn back the clock, would you do the same?
Lozada: One year after of exile in our own country under the protective custody of the Christian Brothers of La Salle and the AMRSP, I am still convinced that I did the right thing of exposing to the Filipino people the magnitude and the involvement of GMA, FG and their minions in the large scale corruption that is plundering our nation into poverty.
