Four government officials took turns in trying to shoot holes into the testimony of Senate star witness Rodolfo "Jun" Lozada's testimony Saturday night, during the ABS-CBN TV special "Harapan: The Jun Lozada Expose".Lozada participated in the show's discussion by remote link-up as he is still staying with the brothers and nuns inside LaSalle High School in Greenhills.Lozada earlier blew the whistle on the scrapped National Broadband Network deal between the Philippine government and the Chinese government-owned ZTE Corporation, claiming the contract was tainted by corruption during a series of hearings at the Philippine Senate.During the "Harapan" TV special, former Commission on Elections chair Benjamin Abalos; Malacañang deputy spokesman Anthony Golez; Assistant Secretary Lorenzo Formoso III of the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) and Philippine National Police Director General Avelino Razon each had a chance to emphasize supposed inconsistencies and logical lapses in Lozada's Senate testimony.Abalos asked viewers to consider how come Lozada continued to play golf in the Wack-Wack Gofl & Country Club--where Abalos is president--even after receiving a supposed death threat from the former poll chief.Abalos also pointed out that Lozada even frequently ate in a restaurant owned by his daughter which is inside Wack-Wack.The former COMELEC chief then talked at length about the restaurant. He said the restaurant, Ben's Diner was named after him. He also boasted about the restaurant's "delicious" hamburgers, which he said are made from his own recipe."Akala ko ba tinakot kita? How come after kitang takutin for the whole year you’ve been there at Wack Wack?... Those hamburgers must be worth dying for, " said Abalos.(Why is it that even after I supposedly threatened to kill you, you kept coming back to Wack-Wack?)Lozada replied that he only went to the golf course when he accompanied his friend National Economic and Development Authority head Romy Neri."Si Secretary Neri po kasi ang dedepensa sa akin (I counted on Secretary Neri to defend me)," said Lozada.Abalos also slammed Lozada for constantly claiming that he is not a wealthy man, noting that the latter, the former head of the Philippine Forest Corporation, had to shell out P425,000 as an initial payment to become a member in Wack Wack.Lozada replied that he already had the means to pay for the membership even before he worked for government, pointing out that he was already a successful businessman in the I.T. field before his appointment to a government post.Lozada, then challenged Abalos to voluntarily submit his phone records showing the calls he made from September 2006 to January 2007 to prove that during that period they had been "phone pals.""Tingnan niyo po, without subpoena, ‘yong phone records niya, ‘yong binayaran niya sa telepono. Ako po ipapakita ko ‘yong phone bills ko noong period na ‘yon, makikita niyo phone pals kami ni chairman Abalos," Lozada said.Lozada added that the phone records will show that he and Abalos were in constant communication while he (Lozada) was trying to help "protect" the $130 million kickback demanded by the poll chief.Lozada to return P500,000Lozada also revealed that after he flew to Hong Kong to avoid testifying in the Senate, said Deputy Executive Secretary for Legal Affairs Manuel "Manny" Gaite had provided P500,000 for him to use for his expenses.Lozada said that the money came too late and since he was already in Hong Kong, he asked his brother to pick it up for him.He said the money is still intact since he used his credit card when he shopped in Hong Kong."Pinadalhan naman ako ng P500,000 nila Manny. Sinubukan ko pong mamili ng mga bagay-bagay para lang baka masiyahan ako, (para maramdaman ko) ang buhay mayaman…. kaya lang pagbalik ko sa kwarto ko, hindi masayang gumastos na hindi mo pinaghirapan," he said.(I tried to splurge on shoppoing in Hong Kong, so I could get a taste of what it's like to be rich... but when I got back to my hotel room I wasn't happy. It's a terrible feeling to spend money you did not earn.)Lozada said that he originally planned to use the money from Gaite to pay for his credit card bill but now, he would rather turn it over to the Senate.Golez declined to comment on Lozada's latest revelation, saying this was the first time that he heard of the allegation.PNP chief Razon meanwhile said that in hindsight, he now regrets helping "protect" Lozada."Kami ay nagtrabaho lang. Nag-provide kami ng security sa kanya. Ngayon nabaligtad. Kidnappers daw kami, abductors. The PNP is not in the business of kidnapping and abdcution... Ako ay nagsisisi, tumulong lang kami, kung bakit namin tinulungan si Mr. Jun Lozada. Sana pinabayaan na lang namin na pag labas niya ng airport siya ay nakuha ng Senado," Razon said.(We were only doing our job. We provided him security. Now it's been reversed. He calls us kidnappers, abductors. We should have let him be and allowed him to go to the Senate.)Razon maintained that Lozada had been provided with security detail upon his and his sister's request as well as Environment Secretary Lito Atienza, Lozada's former boss.Assistant Secretary Lorenzo Formoso III of the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) also defended the NBN project.Formoso defended the project's $329 million price tag. He said that the project cost rose from its original price tag of $262 million tro $329 million after government increased the broadband network coverage to reach the entire country. .Formoso said that it was this expanded coverage, not kickbacks, that spurred the rise in the project's cost.LawsuitThe ABS-CBN TV special went into overtime when businessman Donald Dee, president of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry showed up at the network to dispute some statements made by Lozada.Lozada had made statements that seemed to implicate Dee in the corruption allegations. Joining the panel at the studio, Dee said he will sue Lozada for dragging his name into the scandal."… he has made many statements. He better be ready to substantiate because I’m going to go through the proper process," Dee said during the ABS-CBN TV special "Harapan: The Jun Lozada expose."Dee said Lozada’s statements linking him to the controversial national broadband network (NBN) project were "baseless," adding that he "will not let this pass."Dee also maintained that he has never been involved in any government contract in his more than 40 years in business.Lozada reiterated on the show his previous statement in an earlier radio interview, claiming that Dee advised Commission on Higher Education chairman Romulo Neri to join President Arroyo during her September official visit to New York to avoid testifying in the Senate about alleged corruption in the NBN project.Neri was still the chief of the National Economic and Development Authority when the NBN project was approved by the Arroyo administration in favor of the Chinese government-controlled telecoms giant ZTE Corporation.As NEDA chief, it was Neri's job to study the NBN project and recommend that it be awarded to ZTE, which would have been responsible for building the national broadband network and transferring the technology to the Philippine government."... during the height when Romy Neri was supposed to go the Senate and we were playing golf with Donald I guess the day before or two days before yon na nga sinabi niya, 'Sumama ka na lang kay President kayo na mag-usap tungkol diyan.' 'Yong andun kami sa Club House meron pa kami, 'Kung 'yon ngang walang crisis yan ang ano mo, lalo na ngayong may crisis," Lozada said.(Donald told Romy when we were in the Club House, 'Just go with the President and talk about it.')Lozada claimed that Dee told Neri in jest that if he (Neri) was offered two hundred million pesos before the crisis resulting from the controversial broadband deal, what more now that a political crisis was brewing."Donald, I really have no intention of maligning you or something. If it really hurt you, I’m really sorry but I will stand by the truth na noong nag-golf tayo you said that," Lozada said.Neri did, in fact, testify before the Senate in September regarding the broadband deal between the Philippine government and the Chinese government-controlled ZTE Corporation.In his sworn statement, Neri said that former Commission on Elections Chairman Benjamin Abalos offered him P200 million in exchange for his (Neri's) approval of the broadband deal.Neri was still NEDA chief during the time that Abalos allegedly made the offer.Lozada has accused Abalos of fixing the broadband deal in favor of ZTE; he said that Abalos was supposed to have received a "commission" of $130 million dollars or six billion pesos, if the contract pushed through.
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