Airport exec says presidential guards fetched Lozada

At least two presidential guards were escorted inside the restricted zone of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) to fetch a key witness in the $329.5-million broadband deal mess Tuesday afternoon. Radio dzBB reported Wednesday that Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) assistant deputy manager for operations Octavio Lina said assistant deputy for security retired Gen. Angel Atutubo escorted the two men as the flight of Rodolfo Lozada Jr arrived. Lina said that when he went to Gate 7 of Terminal 1 to make sure passengers get out properly, he saw Atutubo and three men go inside the tube. One of the men reportedly used an official business ID card, while the two others had NAIA ID cards indicating they were members of the Presidential Security Group (PSG). Earlier, radio dzRH reported that immigration personnel denied claims of Atutubo that Lozada passed through Customs and Immigration. The report said personnel at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) immigration area said they did not see or process Lozada upon his arrival in Manila Tuesday afternoon. The immigration personnel argued they would have placed Lozada on hold at the airport because he was on the Immigration bureau's watch list. Atutubo had repeatedly claimed he merely escorted Lozada through the Customs and Immigration areas of NAIA upon Lozada's arrival. For his part, Senate president Manuel Villar Jr. voiced fears Lozada is now being offered incentives or being pressured not to reveal his knowledge on the broadband deal mess. Villar noted it was not the first time a potential witness was abducted only to eventually surface but refuse to testify. "Ganoon na ang nangyari noong nakarang panahon (It had happened in the past)," he said. In 2003, presidential guards supposedly rescued Eugenio Mahusay, a witness in the Jose Pidal bank accounts implicating First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo. Mahusay, who earlier linked the first gentleman to the Pidal bank accounts, would retract his earlier claims, effectively scuttling a Senate investigation into the matter. Villar said that in the case of Lozada's disappearance, they are eyeing criminal charges against airport authorities who allowed the abduction. He said the Senate will also ask the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) for closed-circuit television footage of Lozada's arrival. On the other hand, Atutubo insisted in a separate interview on dzBB that there was no coordination from the Senate, and that only one SPO4 Valeroso coordinated with him to fetch Lozada. He also said he was in his office at the time media claimed they could not get in touch with him due to Lozada's failure to emerge from the airport. "Available ako. Nasa opisina ako (I was available. I was in my office)," he insisted. - GMANews.TV