Using State Resources To Break The Law

Posted by: Jaileen F. Jimeno | February 8, 2008 at 8:30 pm


THE story related by Rodolfo Noel ‘Jun’ Lozada Jr. before the Senate today, if accurate, not only speaks of the lengths the Arroyo administration will go to protect itself, but how it is ready to set aside the most basic of human rights to stay in power. It attests to how low the highest officials in the land have sunk to stifle a testimony that will further inflict damage to its already weakened position in the scandal-ridden $329-million national broadband network (NBN) deal.

Lozada’s testimony is peppered with details of how the state and its top officers allegedly used state resources and personnel to pick up a witness, keep him away from his frantic family for about seven hours, make him sign antedated affidavits favorable to the government, allegedly with the imprimatur of the country’s police chief, three Cabinet members, and the President herself. It also reveals a disturbing reflex reaction by some government officials to be less than forthright, to the extent of “fixing” documents to protect the status quo.

Consider these from Lozada’s testimony:

Lozada met with Environment Secretary Lito Atienza and gave him a briefing of what he knew about the NBN deal. Lozada says Atienza warned him that if he goes public with his story, “ibibigay mo ang gobyernong ito sa oposisyon (you are giving this government away to the opposition).”

A day before he was set to testify before the Senate last week, Lozada went to the Malacañang Palace and spoke with Deputy Executive Secretary Manuel Gaite and his staff. Finding no legal remedy for him to avoid appearing before the Senate, Lozada says antedated travel documents were made for him.

Romulo Neri, chair of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), called Lozada in Hongkong and advised him to write a letter addressed to Senator Juan Ponce Enrile, who moved for his arrest. Lozada says Neri told him to exculpate First Gentleman Mike Arroyo by saying he took no part in the NBN deal.

Sec. Atienza advised Lozada to return two days earlier than scheduled. Lozada says he was assured by Atienza that he was “okay with immigration,” as immigration commissioner Marcelino Libanan had been apprised of the situation.

Gaite, Atienza and Neri called Lozada after he was whisked away by armed men upon arrival at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. Atienza sought to calm the distraught Lozada by telling him that the men who picked him up from the airport were “our men.” Neri, on the other hand, asked Lozada to make his wife calm down. This, even as the friend he tapped to study the NBN deal for free was being driven around in Laguna and Manila.

Lozada says lawyer Antonio Bautista, in consultation with Gaite, asked him to sign affidavits saying he asked government for protection, and that Mike Arroyo had nothing to do with the NBN deal. When he expressed his reservations, he was told by Bautista that the documents were for “Malacañang’s comfort level.” Lozada’s sister, Carmen, also claims she was asked to sign an antedated request for police protection.

As the night wore on, Gaite allegedly advised the men who were holding him to set him free as media attention was getting intense.

Former Presidential Chief of Staff Michael Defensor visited Lozada in La Salle and told him to deny reports that he was held against his will.

Lozada says police chief Avelino Razon was “forced to say a lie.” In a media briefing yesterday, Razon, Atienza and Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye brandished the requests for protection Lozada and his sister allegedly signed.

In a phone conversation, Atienza reportedly told Lozada that the DENR secretary will consult “ES” and “Ma’m.” Lozada says he took it to mean that “ES” stood for Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita and “Ma’m” was Arroyo.

“This means Arroyo knew what Lozada was going through and she was being consulted on their next step,” says Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo.

The Makati Business Club condemned what it said was the use of the state security apparatus to suppress the truth. “We are deeply concerned about the continuing deterioration of the human rights record of this administration,” the group said.

“The panic, desperation, and tenseness evident in the sloppy decisions and executions in these incidents vie for supremacy with the arrogance, ruthlessness, and power-tripping evident in the mind-processes of the decision-makers,” says Mon Casiple, executive director of the Institute for Political and Electoral Reform (IPER) in his blog. “It exposed the readiness of the Arroyo family to use the state instrumentalities — even if violative of laws and human rights — for purely political survival imperatives” he adds.

“I’ve seen the ugly side of the state. If they use it against the citizens, we can’t do anything,” says Lozada.