Lozada sinking deeper into a quagmire of cases

MANILA, Philippines – In this country, those who speak the truth are the ones sent behind bars, while those who commit wrongdoings go scot-free. Thus lamented Rodolfo Noel Lozada Jr. as he was pushed further down the quagmire after blowing the whistle on the allegedly graft-tainted national broadband network (NBN) project of the Arroyo administration with China’s Zhong Xing Telecommunication Equipment (ZTE) Corp. Lozada’s arrest on Wednesday over perjury charges appears to be just the beginning of his persecution. The whistleblower in the allegedly anomalous $329-million deal is facing 16 criminal and civil charges, some of which appear to be harassment cases, according to his camp. A businesswoman whom Lozada swore he never met had filed a theft case against him. In June 2008, Milagros Garcia accused Lozada of stealing P113,000 in cash. Garcia said that one day in January 2008, she was standing with a companion in Alabang, Muntinlupa City when a car stopped in front of them asking for directions to Portofino , a residential area near Alabang. In her complaint filed before the Muntinlupa City Prosecutor’s Office, Garcia said that out of kindness, she and her companion stepped into the vehicle and led them to the place. Upon reaching Portofino , Garcia and her companion got off the car and went their way. Garcia said she then realized that she left her bag containing the P113,000 in the car. A day later, she claimed that while she was watching television, she saw Lozada and recognized him as the driver of the car where she left the money. Garcia said Lozada’s possession of her money constituted theft. But Lozada’s camp had laughed off the allegation as “ridiculous." However, after the Muntinlupa City prosecutor dismissed the case, Garcia still elevated the matter to the Justice Department Jathropa case Earlier, on May 16, 2008, the National Bureau of Investigation filed malversation charges against Lozada, former president of Philippine Forest Corporation (Philforest) and Gerardo Carino, Philforest’s former vice president. The NBI alleged that Lozada was involved in supposed irregularities in the allotment of P19.6 million for the development of Jathropa plantations in 2006. NBI lodged a second case against Lozada and Carino on May 20, 2008. This time, the bureau slapped a graft case against the two in connection with the purchase of motor vehicles, fencing materials, and other equipment worth P15 million without bidding. The two cases filed by NBI are presently under investigation by the Office of the Ombudsman. How about the others? While Lozada faces multiple civil and criminal charges, the other “cast of characters" in the highly-controversial mess have apparently become untouchables. President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and her husband First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo were implicated in the mess. Businessman Jose de Venecia III and Lozada both claimed that the First Gentleman “meddled" in the approval of the government’s deal with the Chinese company. De Venecia III – a losing bidder in the NBN project – said the President’s husband had warned him to “back off" from the project. The businessman, who is the son of ousted former Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr, filed an impeachment complaint against Mrs. Arroyo in December 2008 for alleged betrayal of public trust for a number of supposed shady government deals including the NBN-ZTE deal. The complaint, however, failed to shore up support from at least one-third of the House’s 238 members, and was declared insufficient in substance. It was the fourth time that the President was slapped with an impeachment case that failed to prosper. Like his fellow whistleblower Lozada, De Venecia III only ended up pitting himself in a pool of charges. The Justice department recommended the filing of criminal charges not only against De Venecia III but also against his father. ’Greedy Group’ Aside from the First Couple, former Commission on Elections chairman Benjamin Abalos was also implicated in the NBN controversy, with former National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) head Romulo Neri accusing him of bribery and receiving kickbacks. Neri during his lone Senate appearance in September 2007 said that it was during a golf game at the Wack-Wack Country Club in Mandaluyong City that the former poll chief dropped the now famous line, “Sec., may 200 ka dito [Secretary, you have 200 here]." The former NEDA official said he could only surmise if the “200" that Abalos seemed to be offering him at that time was a bribe for him to usher the approval of the multi-million-dollar government project with ZTE Corp. Abalos resigned a month after Neri made the revelation, stressing that he did not broker for the project. Businessmen were also dragged into the supposed controversy. Sen. Panfilo Lacson claimed that Leo San Miguel knew about the “flow of money" from China to the Philippines. De Venecia III also claimed that San Miguel accompanied Abalos when the latter flew to Shenzen, China supposedly to ask for additional advances for the NBN-ZTE deal. In his defense, San Miguel said during a Senate hearing in March 2008 that he knew nothing about the alleged bribery in the project. San Miguel admitted having flown to China at least four times for the deal, but only because he was a former technical consultant for the NBN project. San Miguel said he only got involved in the project through a businessman named Ruben Reyes (not the Supreme Court justice), who was ZTE’s alleged local contact for the NBN project. Reyes was said to have received $46 million in bribe money supposedly to facilitate the approval of the project, an accusation the businessman denied. Another name dragged in the mess was that of retired police general Quirino dela Torre, Abalos’ security adviser who used to work for Transportation and Communications secretary Leandro Mendoza. It was Mendoza who signed the NBN deal in April 2007. No charges The NBN-ZTE deal had already been brought before the Office of the Ombudsman, tasked to help pin down erring government officials and bring them before the Sandiganbayan. Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez, however, has not yet recommended the filing of charges for Abalos or the First Gentleman. Gutierrez is currently facing an impeachment complaint before the House of Representatives for her alleged inaction and mishandling not only of the broadband project mess but also of other high-profile cases including the fertilizer fund scam and the case against former Justice Secretary Hernando “Nani" Perez. The Ombudsman had repeatedly denied she was sitting on all of those cases, saying her critics were merely engaging in a game of politics. Gutierrez last year formed two panels of prosecutors to probe the alleged anomaly to scrutinize the NBN-ZTE deal and investigate the supposed abduction of Lozada in February 2008. Parties involved in the mess still await results of the investigation. - GMANews.TV