Senate witness Rodolfo "Jun" Lozada Jr. Monday turned over to the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee the P500,000 allegedly given to him by deputy executive Secretary Manuel Gaite for legal affairs as spending money for his trip to Hong Kong.Lozada presented the money contained in a brown envelope to the committee which has been hearing a probe on the national broadband network (NBN) deal with China’s ZTE Corp.Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, the committee chairman, ordered a senate staff to open the sealed envelop and take out the cash.Cayetano noted that there were 10 bundles of P500 bills. He presumed that each bundle had P50,000.Lozada said the money was given to his younger brother in a mall Mandaluyong City during his third day of his Hong Kong trip.He said he called up chairman Romulo Neri of the Commission of Higher Education and Environment Secretary Lito Atienza to complain that he had no money to spend while in Hong Kong.Last Saturday, during the face-off at a TV special, "Harapan: The Jun Lozada Expose", Lozada revealed that after he flew to Hong Kong to avoid testifying in the Senate, said 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 ng hindi mo pinaghirapan," he said.(I tried to splurge and go on a shopping spree 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 he would rather turn it over to the Senate.Gaite has yet to issue a statement on Lozada's claim.In his previous appearance before the Senate probe, Lozada, a key witness in the $329-million botched NBN-ZTE deal, also gave back P50,000 to his friend, former presidential chief of staff, Michael Defensor who gave him the money.Defensor, who was also attending the hearing, said he gave the money to help out Lozada while "hiding" at the La Salle Greenhills dormitory to evade attending the Senate inquiry.
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