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SINCE making his testimony in the Senate as a star witness in the
controversial ZTE national broadband network deal, star witness
Rodolfo “Jun” Lozada Jr. has gone to many public forums and
prayer meetings as guest speaker.
On these occasions, he was asked questions on
the broadband issue and his quips were too witty to impress his
large audiences. He can joke and is often strident in his rhetoric
to qualify him as a promising politician.
Of course, he denies having any political
ambition. But because he has created such an image as a newfound
celebrity, some people are tempted to call him a “future
senator.”
Lozada has been invited to many colleges and
universities to speak. At the PUP (Polytechnic University of the
Philippines), students mobbed him despite attempts to prevent him
from appearing in the school campus. He spoke at the Ateneo and UP
on the subject of “truth and justice,” with particular reference
to the ZTE deal.
His latest foray was to Iloilo, home province of
Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez, where efforts were made for Iloilo
folk to boycott his presence. But he created waves with his
articulations on the ZTE broadband issue. The warm welcome accorded
him has elicited some remarks that Iloilo is not, after all,
Gonzalez’s exclusive turf.
But isn’t Lozada too over-exposed for comfort?
Isn’t he risking his life to unnecessary peril in the light of
alleged threats he has been receiving through text messages and
warnings from friends?
Lozada is becoming a familiar figure in many
parts of the country through TV footages and his personal
appearances in public gatherings. Some people have become visibly
tired of his face; others have begun to doubt his credibility.
Many have even questioned his motives in
attending too many public functions. Bishop Socrates Villegas,
seeing Lozada’s seeming exuberance to speak in public, has
reminded him to be humble.
I have no intention to discourage Lozada from
making speaking tours to discuss what he knows about the
controversial ZTE project. He is becoming too familiar to the
public. As the axiom goes, “familiarity breeds contempt.”
It will do Lozada some good if he carries
himself with more remoteness and reserve. Too frequent public
appearances could get him into nasty confrontations with hecklers
and cynics.
No GSIS action
It has been nearly two months since I wrote
about the loss by a retired teacher of some P45,000 of her pension
money through mysterious withdrawals from the ATM. The complainant
is Ms Guillerma R. Ferrer, of San Carlos City, Pangasinan.
In response to my concern, the GSIS information
office said that, indeed, withdrawals had been made at different ATM
outlets. However, it could not pinpoint the person who made the
withdrawals.
It assumed that no other ATM card could have
been used to make the withdrawals but that of the complaining
pensioner. In other words, the GSIS is laying the blame on Ms Ferrer,
being the authorized holder of her eCard.
The pensioner has always been in possession of
her card. She complains that one withdrawal was made at the precise
time she was filing her complaint with the GSIS branch office in
Dagupan City about the loss of her money.
The theft was made evidently with the use of
another card, but the GSIS could not pinpoint the culprit. No
further clarification has been made by the GSIS information office
on its investigation of the case.
To the GSIS, the amount involved may be small to
be concerned about. But it means a lot to the complaining pensioner.
The GSIS owes to its millions of old-age pensioners the
responsibility to look into their problems and help them with their
solutions.
Ms Ferrer feels she is a victim of a big
letdown.
agr0324@yahoo.com
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