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An important Senate witness arrived at the Ninoy
Aquino International Airport Tuesday afternoon, was met by several
groups of welcomers, but promptly disappeared, according to his
distressed family and friends. So where is Rodolfo Lozada Jr.?
Lozada, chief executive officer
of the government-run Philippine Forest Corp., left the country on
Jan. 30, hours before a Senate hearing on the $329.5-million NBN
national broadband deal. The media said he was Sen. Panfilo
Lacson’s new witness for the NBN hearing. Lozada knew details
about irregularities in the project, the senator claimed.
The Senate had ordered the arrest
of Romulo Neri and Lozada, coworkers and friends, for failing to
attend a Senate hearing on the broadband scandal. On Tuesday the
Supreme Court froze the order pending oral arguments in its chamber.
Romulo Neri, acting Commission on
Higher Education chairman and former director general of the
National Economic and Development Authority, had testified several
times on the controversial project and had defended the
administration from wrongdoing.
PNP chief Avelino Razon Jr. told
a radio station (later reported in a major daily) that Lozada had
requested the police, in writing, to protect him. Which police unit
was holding Lozada? The Police Security Protection Office, Razon
told radio station dzMM.
Why not release Lozada to the
Senate or to his family? “For security reasons,” Razon said,
citing the threat on Lozada’s life.
At the same time, Octavio Lina,
NAIA assistant general manager for operations, was reported saying
Lozada “calmly went with his civilian escorts…after emerging out
of Cathay Pacific flight 919.” He said Angel Atutubo, assistant
general manager of the MIAA security and emergency services, took
custody of the passenger. Atutubo denied the claim and said a
certain SPO4 Roger Valerozo picked up the official.
Members of the Senate security
office were at the airport to meet Lozada but they failed to secure
their witness. The Lozada family, understandably protective and
watchful, gathered at the terminal but hardly had a word with the
new arrival. Members of media, eager for a story, missed their man.
Airport and immigration officials
must make a full account of Mr. Lozada’s arrival and his
subsequent movements. No persons are allowed at the arrival area
except with the permission of airport authorities.
The Lozada family has petitioned
the Supreme Court for a writ of habeas corpus and writ of amparo to
force the police to produce the potential whistleblower.
“I just want my husband back,
“ cried Mrs. Violeta Lozada, on radio and TV as she pleaded for
his return. The public also seeks the safe recovery of Jun Lozada.
His disappearance is a blot on law and order in the country.
Director General Razon should be
more forthcoming on Lozada’s whereabouts. The public perception is
that the police are helping silence an important witness in a
contentious government deal.
He owes the Lozada family, the
Senate and the public a full explanation, including why no official
notification was made to the Lozadas and the Senate security when
the police took custody.
Sen. Mar Roxas has also
challenged Razon to produce the letter Lozada allegedly wrote asking
for police protection.
The administration, no less, will
remain under a cloud until Lozada reappears—and surfaces unhurt.
His absence is another of those forced disappearances that have hurt
the credibility of the government, the police and the system of
justice. The President and the Departments of Justice and the
Interior and Local Government should look into the case.
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