MANILA, Philippines — Whistleblower Rodolfo "Jun" Lozada Jr. wants to take the witness stand again – but this time it's for a case that had absolutely nothing to do with the NBN-ZTE controversy.
The former government official, who was at the Makati Metropolitan Trial Court on Friday, lamented the slow progress of an attempted homicide case he filed in 2001 against a man who shot him in the Edsa-Guadalupe area while he was inside his vehicle.
Then a chief executive of a private company, Lozada escaped unscathed because he had sped off.
His alleged attacker, a certain Albert Reyes, has posted bail after the charge was downgraded from attempted murder.
Lozada filed a motion of reconsideration so he could testify again because the part where he said Reyes shot him was not included in the court transcript.
MTC Judge Rico Sebastian Liwanag earlier ordered the prosecution presentation of evidence terminated.
At Friday’s hearing, the judge gave the respondent's counsel 10 days to comment on Lozada's motion.
"Eight years na itong kasong ito at hanggang ngayon ay dinidinig pa rin. Masyado nang matagal pero parang kulang pa yung testimonya ko sa record ng kaso. Kinakatakot ng abugado na yung material na testimonya ko ay hindi maisama [Until now the court is hearing the case, eight years after it was filed. It has taken so long but it seems my testimony is still lacking. My lawyer fears that material evidence may be excluded]," Lozada told reporters.
The man who faced several charges after squealing on reported multimillion-dollar bribery attempts in the NBN deal said obtaining speedy trial was already difficult for a personality like him--but even more so for ordinary citizens.
"Mahirap makamtan ang hustisya sa bayan natin especially sa kalagayan ko na alam niyo naman; pag ang kaso ko sa panahon ngayon ay either talo or hindi umuusad. Meron lang isa na nag-withdraw [Justice is difficult to obtain in our country, especially for me, if complainants are losing or the case is not prospering. Only one withdrew]," he said, referring to the perjury charge dropped by former presidential chief of staff Mike Defensor.
Justice, he lamented, remained elusive to him since even the case of his brother Fernando, who was killed in a botched police operation in 2001, failed to prosper at the Department of Justice.
A Makati hotel chief steward, Fernando was taking his niece and her friend to a debut party when they were shot dead inside a car by PNP Intelligence Group operatives who apparently mistook them for kidnapping suspects.
Fernando's daughter Clarissa survived but her 17-year-old friend Marian Unson was also killed by Gen. Reynaldo Berroya's men, who have not been held accountable for the deaths.
Lozada said he fervently hoped that his eight-year-old suit against Reyes, which could possibly be linked to his brother's killing since it occurred five months after, would not wither like his other cases.
