MANILA, Philippines -- A lawyers’ group said on Thursday that government officials implicated in the alleged kidnapping and illegal detention of Rodolfo Noel Lozada Jr., the witness in the Senate inquiry into the national broadband network (NBN) deal, can be charged in court.
The National Union of People's Lawyers (NUPL) said the alleged abduction of Lozada from the airport by security agents constituted kidnapping and serious illegal detention because it deprived him of his liberty.
This, according to NUPL president Frederico Gapuz, is punishable under Article 267 of the Revised Penal Code (RPC) and carries the maximum penalty of reclusion perpetua, which imposes a sentence of as much as 40 years.
“PNP [Philippine National Police] Director General Avelino Razon Jr. and Environment Secretary [Jose] Lito Atienza, who admitted to the act, are liable as principals,” Gapuz said in a statement.
He said Razon and Atienza, together with airport security chief Angel Atutubo may also be held criminally liable for allegedly conspiring to prevent the service of the Senate arrest warrant in the guise of protective custody under Article 233 of the RPC.
Article 233 punishes with imprisonment a public officer “who, upon demand from competent authority, shall fail to lend his cooperation towards the administration of justice or other public service, if such failure shall result in serious damage to the public interest, or to a third party.”
“The defense of the PNP and Secretary Atienza that the basis of their custody is the supposed request by the family of Mr. Lozada and Mr. Lozada himself is a mere cover up since the purported letter request was written and signed by Mr. Lozada under duress while he was already detained by the PNP,” Gapuz explained.
“Obviously the family of Mr. Lozada did not know who took him and they even filed a petition for the writ of amparo and frantically called on the media to pressure the government to release him,” he added.
The lawyer said the usual defense of “voluntary custody” has been a “template” used by the military and the police in the various petitions for writs of amparo filed by members of the NUPL.
“The claim that the subject volunteered to be under their custody is certainly not credible considering the duress under which Mr. Lozada was placed. The claim that the warrant cannot be served outside Senate premises is without legal basis since a warrant is specifically issued to facilitate the arrest of a subject anywhere in the country,” Gapuz added.
The NUPL also recalled that the Supreme Court validated the arrest of former Philippine Commission on Good Government chair Camilo Sabio through a warrant served in the PCGG office.
NUPL said Lozada's testimony showed First Gentleman Mike Arroyo's “inordinate interest” in the NBN contract and exposed as “lies” his claims that he had no involvement at all in the deal.
The group said the alleged involvement of Cabinet members and the PNP head in the abduction of Lozada only showed that accountability did not stop with former Commission on Elections chair Benjamin Abalos Sr. but led directly to Malacańang.
“The scrambling efforts by Cabinet secretaries to cover up the abduction is an attempt to divert the issue from the involvement of President Macapagal-Arroyo and the First Gentleman in the deal which makes them accountable under the anti-graft law. The claim that no crime could have been committed because the contract was subsequently revoked is unavailing because the law does not contemplate acquitting a corrupt official by the expediency of revoking a contract once it is found to be irregular,” Gapuz explained.
The lawyer cited Section 3 (g) of Republic Act No. 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act which prohibits “entering, on behalf of government, into any contract or transaction manifestly disadvantageous to the same, whether or not the public officer profited or will profit thereby.”
Gapuz added that the First Gentleman may also be accountable under the lawyers' Code of Professional Responsibility. The Code regulates the ethical conduct of lawyers particularly Rule 1.01, which prohibits lawyers from engaging “in unlawful, dishonest or deceitful conduct.”
NUPL said the Lozada abduction must be condemned by members of the legal profession as a clear violation of his human rights and a blatant disregard of Philippine laws.
It was also a direct violation of the Senate's constitutional power to conduct inquiries in aid of legislation and to compel attendance to its hearings, the group said.
“More importantly, the abduction of Mr. Lozada is another attempt to subvert the truth and derail the Senate investigation on the ZTE deal and the involvement of the Ms Arroyo and her husband in the same,” Gapuz said.
NUPL said it supported Lozada's exposés and scored alleged attempts to harass and vilify him.
NUPL's secretary general, Neri Javier Colmenares, is a counsel of Lozada at the Senate hearings. The NUPL is chaired by lawyer Romeo Capulong.
