GUARDIAN ANGELS Able-bodied nuns from the Religious of the Good Shepherd, Salesian Sisters and Daughters of Charity link arms, and with their bodies shield Lozada as he surfaces at about 2 a.m. on Thursday to hold a press conference at the chapel of La Salle Green Hills, San Juan. RAFFY LERMA
‘In the company of strangers for 24 hours’ By Tarra Quismundo Philippine Daily Inquirer First Posted 05:58:00 02/08/2008
MANILA, Philippines -- Sleepless, exhausted and terrified, Rodolfo Lozada Jr. said Thursday he was in the company of strangers throughout the almost 24 hours he was reported missing.
Finally returned to his family and friends since disappearing from the airport on Tuesday afternoon, Lozada said men who did not identify themselves picked him up at the airport and told him that his boss, Environment Secretary Lito Atienza, had sent for him.
“It was supposed to be my family” who was to meet him, Lozada, head of state-owned Philippine Forest Corp., said.
Amid the confusion, Lozada said, Atienza called and told him “not to be alarmed.”
Asked if he felt he had been abducted at the time, Lozada said: “At a certain point, yes.”
“I’d be a hypocrite if I say I did not get scared,” said Lozada, his face pale as he squinted at flashing cameras and the glare of television lights.
He believed the men were armed, but he felt “no explicit threat,” rather “an implicit one because I did not know them.”
Lozada said the men were “nice” when they asked him to sign affidavits that included a request for police security, a paper that would show consistency with the government’s claim that he had asked for protection, and “an item [that said] I did not speak of the ZTE-NBN deal [with] any government official.”
He felt that to say “under duress” was “too strong” a phrase to describe his situation when he signed the papers. Still, he apologized to the public for signing the documents and disavowed their contents.
“Please forgive me for signing those ... I signed them in their company,” said Lozada with a slight smile.
Intercepted at tube
Flanked by priests and nuns at La Salle Green Hills’ National Shrine of the Divine Child chapel during a news conference at 2:30 a.m., Lozada recounted how he was taken at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 1 (NAIA-1) on his arrival from Hong Kong at 4:40 p.m. on Tuesday.
His family had been worried that he had been kidnapped by state agents to stop him from testifying on the controversial $329-million National Broadband Network deal with China.
Lozada was due to testify in the Senate’s inquiry into the deal when he flew to Hong Kong on Jan. 30. Lozada admitted he left to avoid the Senate blue ribbon committee hearing, saying he did not want his testimony to be tainted by politics.
“The instruction I got was to go straight to the Bureau of Immigration because I’ve always been concerned that I’d be arrested by the Senate. I was afraid,” he said, referring to what his family had directed him to do on his return to Manila.
But the men intercepted him in the tube connecting his plane to the arrival gate, an area accessible only to airline staff and deplaning passengers. They did not identify themselves until Lozada was released to his family on Wednesday evening.
“I did not know the group who took me from the tube, so I guess that’s where all the confusion started and I texted my brother that I was already taken by a group from the tube,” Lozada said.
Avoiding media
He could not say how many men took him. Airport officials known to be close to the First Family were suspected of having aided the group as only they have access to the high-security area.
Lozada was escorted up to NAIA-1’s departure level, avoiding media people. He was then slipped into an elevator that led to the ramp area, driven out to the South Luzon Expressway and on to Los Baños in Laguna. Then, the group turned back to Manila.
All this time he was sending text messages to his brother, Arthur, to update him on where he was being taken. It was around this time that Lozada’s wife, Violeta, made a frantic appeal over dzMM radio for her husband’s safe return.
Too much noise
When news about the incident made headlines the next day, Lozada said those who were holding him decided to take him back to his family.
“[They felt] there was so much noise from media already that I had to be brought back to the family, to my wife in particular,” Lozada said.
He wanted to be taken home but the group of strangers decided against it, concerned that the media might be staking out his residence. When they asked where he wanted to be dropped off, Lozada said he chose the La Salle Green Hills Chapel. He was taken there at 10:30 p.m. Tuesday.
He stayed overnight and was again picked up 10:30 a.m. Wednesday by the same group, said Bro. Felipe Belleza. It was unclear where he was brought, but this was when Lozada was made to sign the letters. He was brought back to La Salle five hours later.
“I’ve slept barely a few hours a day since I left for Hong Kong,” said Lozada, his eyes puffy and bloodshot.
At 3:45 a.m., a Senate team took Lozada into custody. Surrounded by nine nuns, Lozada finally agreed to be brought to the Senate at 4:10 a.m.
Copyright 2008 Philippine Daily Inquirer. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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