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Gaite: I can't rationally justify giving P500,000 to Lozada


Deputy Executive Secretary Manuel Gaite on Tuesday admitted he could not give a "rational justification" for his move to "give" P500,000 to Rodolfo Noel Lozada Jr - which the ZTE witness later claimed was a bribe offer meant to prevent him from testifying before the Senate investigation. In the Senate hearing on the government's controversial national broadband network deal with China's ZTE Corp., Gaite said his actions to give money to Lozada was guided only by his conscience and faith, even as he admitted that he met Lozada only twice before. Gaite said he pitied Lozada who sent him a text message saying he was having a hard time abroad, prompting him to decide to give the money to Lozada. The official said the money was supposed to be used for the renovation of his parents-in-law's house. "If you’re asking for a rational explanation… I can’t provide a rational justification for my act. My action at that time was moved by my conscience and my faith," Gaite told senators during the hearing. "It did not occur to me whether to treat it as a loan. I pitied him," he added. He noted that Lozada did not ask for a particular amount of cash and that it was his own decision to give Lozada P500,000. Gaite said he was actually surprised when Lozada came out in the media, claiming that the money he received from Gaite was a bribe. "Ang masakit dito, after 12 days, he’s saying it was a bribe for him not to return... He texted me saying he was in dire need of funds. I pitied him. When he got the money through his brother, I did not even get a ‘Thank you,’" Gaite said. Senators, however, expressed doubts on Gaite's statement saying P500,000 was too big an amount just to give away to someone whom one has no personal or professional ties with. Much less to someone whom one had just met only twice before in his life. "In this instance there are many loose ends of your story that need to be clarified," Pimentel said. "How can a man earning P50,000 just part with P500,000?... You are such a generous provider for the needs of people," he added. In his testimony, Gaite also said the funds he gave to Lozada was his personal funds, negating an earlier statement of his boss - Executive Sec. Eduardo Ermita - that the fund was a pool of donations from anonymous sources. This prompted opposition Sen. Panfilo Lacson to pounce on Gaite. "(Are you saying) you made a liar out of him? He's all over media saying the money did not come from you and it came from private sources. Did you not coordinate?" Lacson said.- GMANews.TV

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