Tikoy for ‘probinsiyanong Intsik’ on V-Day

The probinsyanong Intsik (rural Chinese) who has unwittingly found himself in the middle of controversy as a key witness in the scrapped national broadband network project spent Valentine’s Day eating tikoy, the sweet sticky rice cake traditionally associated with the celebration of the Chinese or lunar new year.

Before his involvement in the controversial NBN deal, Lozada said he was quite romantic, giving his wife flowers and bringing her to dinner at hotels during the day of hearts.

“Now I only eat tikoy and we stay here at the safe house,” Lozada said, managing to laugh.

Lozada said he would have to bear with the change in his lifestyle as a consequence of his decision to come out and be a witness.

He also expressed surprise that he is being treated like a celebrity by some people.

Lozada said most rewarding was the public’s show of support for him, among them government employees at the Court of Appeals.

He was at the CA for the hearing of the petition for habeas corpus filed by his wife, Violeta, after he had been taken against his will from the airport upon his arrival from Hong Kong on Feb. 5. The petition was denied for being moot and academic, since he has already surfaced.

“Now I know how it feels to be famous,” he laughed. “Even when I went to the CR (comfort room), they followed me. I told them to please wait because I needed to pee.”

Lozada said the light moments at the CA somehow helped ease his burden, as did reports that several groups had volunteered to defend him from the many charges set to be filed against him by the administration.

“I am lucky I have a sense of humor. Without it I would now (be) crazy,” Lozada told The STAR in a telephone interview.

“I was surprised that at the CA, when I said I could be interviewed, they put so many microphones in front of my face and so many wanted to ask questions,” Lozada said.

Lozada shared that he had confronted Erwin Santos, his community organizer at the Philippine Forest Corp. who provided the National Bureau of Investigation and other agencies with documents against him.

“They (NBI agents) were looking for so many things and I told Erwin Santos he should also consider the things I did to put up the company and how I helped the employees there,” Lozada said.

“But that is nothing anymore. I do not expect everyone to be on my side all throughout. I just hope they would see the light,” he said.

Meantime, Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Sergio Apostol, one of Lozada’s critics, was apparently evicted from his office in Malacañang to prevent him from issuing more defamatory statements.

Apostol earlier called Lozada a “crying boy” and said if he (Lozada) is Chinese, he should be deported for creating trouble. Apostol later apologized for his statements amid strong protests from the Chinese-Filipino or Tsinoy community.

Since Wednesday, journalists covering Malacañang noticed office furniture and equipment being transferred to and from the New Executive Building (NEB) where the offices of the Press Secretary, Presidential Adviser on New Government Centers, Presidential Assistant for Religious Affairs and Presidential News Desk and Appointments are located.

It turned out that Apostol was moving out and the executive director of the Presidential Human Rights Commission, Cecilia “Coco” Quisumbing, was moving in.

Apostol insisted that he was not evicted and that he decided to move to Mabini Hall, a few blocks away from the NEB.

“I just wanted to go there. I’m switching offices with Coco,” he said.

Apostol said he initiated the move amid suspicions that it was a consequence of his previous statements against the Tsinoy community.

Apostol has been shying away from media interviews since Monday, a day after he apologized.

“No interviews for the meantime. This is because of the (Intsik) remark,” Apostol said.

Apostol hinted at his displeasure about his transfer to Mabini Hall by describing his new office as “small.”

“But they gave me an external room, a store room,” he said. “I have to transfer there because feng shui dictates that I should go to the other building,” Apostol said, ironically referring to Chinese geomancy beliefs about man’s relationship with nature and the environment.  - With Marvin Sy