Lozada to be arrested Monday; nuns to foot bail

MANILA, Philippines - Whistle-blower Rodolfo Noel Lozada Jr. will not be spending a night in prison because the Association of Major Religious Superiors of the Philippines (AMRSP) will bail him out the moment his warrant of arrest is served on Monday.

AMRSP Sanctuary Program head Sister Mary John Mananzan, who has been a constant companion of Lozada since the height of the national broadband network (NBN) scandal, said the nuns have made arrangements with authorities that they would turn Lozada over to the Philippine National Police (PNP) on Feb. 11.

They informed police that if they want to arrest Lozada, they should go to the AMRSP.

The PNP-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) secured copies yesterday of the arrest warrants, apparently after learning of the arrest orders from media reports.

Mananzan said Lozada and his family have been in their custody since unidentified men reportedly went looking for him at his house a few days ago.

“On Monday, we would bring him to you and we would bring the bail (money). We would go through the legal procedures,”Mananzan told the PNP.

Through donations, the AMRSP has reportedly raised P60,000, half of which would be used as bail bond for Lozada and the other half for his brother.

Lozada is facing a graft case before the Sandiganbayan stemming from his grant of leasehold rights to his brother Jose Orlando and to a private company connected with his wife in 2009 when he was president and chief executive officer of the government-run Philippine Forest Corp. (Philforest).

The Sandiganbayan’s Fourth Division ordered his arrest late Wednesday.

The complaint was filed by Erwin Santos, former Philforest program development manager, who alleged that during Lozada’s leadership, procurements made by the agency supposedly did not go through the normal bidding process, among other misdemeanors.

Lozada made headlines in 2008 when he surfaced to testify on the allegedly anomalous $329-million NBN deal entered into by the government with Chinese firm ZTE during the term of former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Arroyo.

Lozada said he was not yet aware of any arrest warrant issued against him. He said he was determined to prove his innocence before the anti-graft court.

“They can arrest me if they want. We will face all of these. We’re not hiding anything,” he said.

Mananzan said that the whistle-blower returned to their custody because his enemies “are taking advantage of the situation” now that a warrant has been issued against him.

She said President Aquino has asked at least three members of his Cabinet - Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman, and Education Secretary Armin Luistro - to meet with them.

Impostors

Lozada, meanwhile, told The STAR he is not trying to evade arrest but is only being careful because armed and suspicious looking men had been going to his house and harassing his family.

Yesterday morning, a lawyer claiming to represent Lozada personally inquired with the Sandiganbayan on the procedures for posting bail.

She was told that apart from paying the amount, the process would require the personal appearance of the accused because he has to be photographed and his fingerprint samples need to be taken.

Father Marlon Lacal of the AMRSP said their religious group is willing to surrender Lozada to the police but with proper coordination to ensure that his life and safety will not be put in danger.

Lozada claimed in an interview that several suspicious men visited his house on Feb. 2 and 4 and introduced themselves as agents of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).

When Lacal tried to verify with the Department of Justice (DOJ), he said he was told that no NBI agent was sent to arrest Lozada.

De Lima ordered the deployment of NBI agents on Thursday night to Lozada’s house in Pasig City to “protect his family” but denied that she or NBI Director Nonnatus Rojas but ordered those men to try to enter the house.

“Clearly those men were impostors. I already ordered an investigation,” De Lima said.

A blow to whistle-blowers

Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano said the Aquino administration must find a way to protect Lozada from what he believes are efforts to harass him.

Cayetano said Lozada represents whistle-blowers, and whatever happens to him would have wide ranging impact on those who have plans of exposing wrongdoing in government.

“Clearly Jun Lozada was not only a whistle-blower but was vital in exposing a government that believed in graft and corruption. So why aren’t we now not running after the others and then focusing on him?” Cayetano said.

He said the administration, through the DOJ, could have worked for Lozada’s immunity shortly after it assumed power in 2010.

He said the Office of the Ombudsman could have also asked the Sandiganbayan to withdraw the cases against Lozada.

Cayetano clarified that it was not his intention to encourage the executive branch to interfere with the functions of independent government institutions such as the Ombudsman and Sandiganbayan.

However, he said that these agencies have an obligation to stay true to the tuwid na daan (straight path) policy of the administration.

Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Neri Colmenares, on the other hand, said Lozada’s situation and the threats against him are a blow to efforts at encouraging future whistle-blowers.

Colmenares said President Aquino “practically supported” efforts to silence Lozada by reappointing Santos, who replaced him at Philforest.

“Lozada exposed himself to criminal prosecution by testifying against former first gentleman Mike Arroyo in the NBN deal. But while Mike Arroyo is free to travel abroad, Lozada is about to be arrested,” Colmenares said, adding that the President’s message is to “expose corruption at your own risk.” – With Michael Punongbayan, Delon Porcalla, Cecille Suerte Felipe, Marvin Sy, Paolo Romero, Edu Punay