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By William B. Depasupil, Reporter
SENATE witness Rodolfo Lozada Jr. failed to
appear Tuesday before the Court of Appeals (CA) for the continuation
of the hearing on his petition for a writ of amparo.
The petition for a writ of amparo was
filed in Lozada’s behalf by his brother, Arturo, over Rodolfo’s
claim that he was kidnapped by government security forces after he
arrived from Hong Kong in February to prevent him from testifying at
the Senate hearing on the government’s botched $330-million
national broadband network project with ZTE Corp. of China.
Rex Fernandez, Lozada’s lawyer, told the
court that his client was in the Senate for a supposedly important
meeting.
Lozada was supposed to take the witness stand
yesterday. But the hearing proceeded as well with the elder Arturo
taking the witness stand for the continuation of his earlier
unfinished testimony.
In his testimony, Arturo admitted before the
court’s 17th division, headed by Justice Cecilia Librea-Leagogo,
that he had no direct knowledge about the circumstances when his
brother arrived from Hong Kong in February.
The appellate court set April 11 and April 17 as
the dates for the next hearings.
Rodolfo’s wife, Violeta, also earlier filed a
petition for a writ of habeas corpus. But the court dismissed it as
being “moot” because the witness had already surfaced.
The hearing on the writ of amparo is meant to
determine whether Rodolfo’s rights were violated, and if there is
a continuing threat to his life, liberty, and security.
Named respondents in the writ of amparo case
were President Gloria Arroyo, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita,
Philippine National Police chief Avelino Razon Jr., Aviation
Security Group agent Rodolfo Valeroso and Manila International
Airport Assistant General Manager for Security Angel Atutubo.
In a seven-page resolution dated March 5, the
court dropped the President as respondent, stressing that a sitting
head of state cannot be sued, and that as President, Mrs. Arroyo is
immune from civil and criminal suits.
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