Lozada arrested

NBN-ZTE whistle-blower Rodolfo Noel "Jun" Lozada Jr. was arrested yesterday on perjury charges filed against him by former presidential chief of staff Mike Defensor.

Lozada did not resist arrest by members of the Manila Police District (MPD) who served the warrant issued by the Manila Metropolitan Trial Court.

"I only need a lawyer to make sure that everything is correct. I would accept the arrest warrant without qualms," philstar.com reported Lozada as saying.

Accompanied by Sr. Mary John Mananzan, chair of the Association of Major Religious Superiors of the Philippines (AMRSP), Lozada was brought to the MPD. Police said he would be temporarily detained at the office of the Detective Jail Management Section awaiting the commitment order from the court for transfer to the Manila City Jail.

Odd man out

In a phone interview by inquirer.net, Lozada talked about his sadness over the arrest. "Malungkot, dahil sa kinadami-dami namin, ako lang ang naparusahan. Ako lang ang naaresto. Samantalang si FG (First Gentleman), Abalos, hindi man lang nasampahan ng kaso. Hindi man lang napitik (I am sad because among the many who participated in the mess, I'm the only one punished. I'm the only one arrested, but the First Gentleman and Abalos were not charged. Not even a slap on the wrist)," Lozada said.

Last year, Lozada, a former president of the Philippine Forest Corp., revealed anomalies in the $329.5-million National Broadband Network (NBN) deal with ZTE Corp, implicating First Gentleman Jose Miguel "Mike" Arroyo, former Commission on Elections chairman Benjamin Abalos, and former National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) chief Romulo Neri, among others.

Lozada lamented that "In our history, those who tell the truth end up in jail." He was allowed to post bail by Judge Jorge Lorredo of the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 26. Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim had given him P6,000 in cash, but Lozada refused to post bail for his release.

"Kasi kapag nag-bail na naman ako, hahaba na naman. Nakita ko na ang epekto ng ganitong klase na kalagayan sa pamilya ko. Ito ang hakbang ko para mapabilis man lang (Posting bail would only prolong the hearing. I have seen how this kind of situation affects my family. This is my way of at least speeding up the process)," Lozada told radio dzMM.

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Victim of injustice

Former presidents Corazon Aquino and Joseph Estrada expressed dismay at Lozada's arrest.

"I'm deeply saddened by the news that Mr. Jun Lozada has been placed under arrest on allegations of perjury. I shall pray for him that he may be delivered from harm and injustice," Mrs. Aquino said. She appealed to Filipinos to support Lozada, as did Estrada.

"This is obviously politics. Why should you arrest a man for speaking the truth? All of us are supporting him. I urge all Filipinos to join Jun Lozada," Estrada said.

Senator Allan Peter Cayetano said that Lozada's arrest is still connected with the NBN-ZTE scam and other anomalies during the broadband hearings last year. "There are a lot of people who wants to silence Lozada. Even if the ZTE investigations were closed, there's still a lot to investigate, including the North Rail and South Rail projects that all went through the NEDA (National Economic Development Authority)," abs-cbnnews.com quoted Cayetano as saying.

Cayetano, who led the legislative inquiry into the NBN-ZTE scam during his term as the blue-ribbon committee chairman, appealed to the Senate to set aside politics and 2010 ambitions and discuss what the upper house can do to protect their witness. Another senator, Francis Pangilinan, expressed disappointment over the arrest, which he described as a "mockery of our justice system."

The Black and White Movement, composed of organizations and individuals calling for President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's ouster, issued a statement saying that Lozada's arrest was a "cheap shot" by the administration.

Mike Defensor claimed that the arrest was not politically motivated and that he has no intention of putting Lozada in jail. "I just want him to rectify his conflicting statements before the Court of Appeals and the Senate," he said.

First-timer

The arresting lawmen led by SPO4 Alfredo Valenzuela and SPO2 Pedro Flores picked Lozada up from his safehouse at De La Salle University (DLSU) in Greenhills, San Juan City, on Wednesday afternoon. Lozada was not handcuffed, as he did not resist arrest.

Upon arrival at the MPD, Lozada told the reporters he had never been to jail. "It's my first time here ... It's surreal...Natatakot, kinakabahan kung anong mangyayari (I am scared, I am nervous about what will happen)."

In an earlier report, Lozada was said to be expecting an arrest as he received a notice on April 16 after Special Prosecution Officer Cicero D. Jurado Jr. authorized an arrest order on March 19, 2009.

At the MPD, Diokno, Cayetano, Reyes, Rep. Joel Villanueva of Cibac, Bayan Muna party-list representative Neri Colmenares, and Manila City legal officer Renato de la Cruz joined Lozada to show suppport.

Several religious, civic and activist groups are expected to hold vigils and activities to show support for Lozada.

Photo "Jun Lozada" by gmaresign taken from Flickr.com under Creative Commons License BY-NC-SA-2.0

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