MANILA, Philippines -- The throng that turned out Sunday for the 10 a.m. Mass for Senate witness Rodolfo Noel Lozada Jr. at La Salle Green Hills was reminiscent of EDSA People Power I.

Surprised and deeply touched, Lozada exclaimed: “Hindi na ako nag-iisa (I am no longer alone).”

Flanked by Corazon Aquino and the De Venecia couple, Rep. Jose Jr. and Gina, Lozada said he felt at home with the former President and the various religious groups supporting him.

Behind them stood former senators Franklin Drilon and Ramon Magsaysay Jr., former members of the Aquino Cabinet, and Aquino’s daughters Balsy and Viel, who came with their families, and her son Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III.

“I did it because I was trying to save my soul. I didn’t know that it will end up like this,” a teary-eyed Lozada, visibly pleased by the support, told his well-wishers.

Aquino addressed some 4,000 people who attended the Mass dubbed “Misa ng Sambayanan Para Sa Katotohanan (People’s Mass for the Truth),” which she organized for Lozada and his family at the St. Benilde Gymnasium at La Salle Green Hills in Mandaluyong City.

“Nothing is impossible through prayer,” Aquino said, rallying the people to support Lozada, star witness in the scandal-ridden $329-million National Broadband Network (NBN) deal between the government and ZTE Corp. of China.

At the end of the Mass, Aquino told reporters she was praying for President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to see the light and heed the people’s clamor for the truth behind the scrapped deal.

“I’m praying for her. I’m praying for her,” Aquino said when asked if she would demand Ms Arroyo’s resignation.

‘You’re not alone’

Wearing her signature yellow dress, Aquino was applauded several times by the crowd, composed mostly of representatives of the religious sector and the middle and upper classes whose vehicles filled opposite lanes of Ortigas Avenue from EDSA (Epifanio delos Santos Avenue) all the way to Green Hills Shopping Center as early as 9 a.m.

Aquino lauded the outpouring of public support for Lozada, whom she praised for his courage in coming out and telling the truth, although it meant implicating the President’s husband, Jose Miguel Arroyo.

This reminded Aquino of her ordeal when her husband, former Sen. Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr., was assassinated during the Marcos regime.

Had it not been for the massive people support for her cause, she would have not returned to the country, Aquino said.

She assured Lozada that he was not alone in the fight for truth and was relieved to see him at peace with the people’s expression of support for him.

More active role

Aquino also hinted she would assume a more active role in the search for the truth in the days to come.

“Kung minsan may nagtatanong sa akin. Hindi ka ba nagsasawa na paulit-ulit na lamang ang panawagan mo? Sabi ko, wala akong choice, eh. Ang Pilipinas lamang ang bayan kong minamahal (People ask me: Don’t you tire of always being asked to do things for the country? I tell them I have no choice. The Philippines is the only country I love),” she said.

Aquino’s son, Noynoy, said he expected his mother to take an active role in the fight for truth.

The sisters of the Association of the Major Religious Superiors in the Philippines (AMRSP) had to shield Lozada from well-wishers who took turns hugging him even before the Mass ended.

AMRSP executive secretary Sr. Estrella Castalone announced the church group had collected P186,253.75 for the so-called “sanctuary fund,” to be used for Lozada’s legal fees and help other witnesses seeking Church protection.

Lozada’s wife wept profusely as the crowd repeatedly applauded whenever her husband’s name was mentioned during the Mass. With fists clenched, the people sang along to Freddie Aquilar’s taped rendition of “Bayan Ko.”

Outside the gymnasium, a group of students chanted “Gloria resign! Now na!” as they waved lampoon movie ads that read, “Malacañang X-Men, Exterminate their Breed,” “Pirates of the Malacañang Palace” and “Fantastic Greed.”

Not a Clarissa

The students held up photos of the President, her husband Mike, former Commission on Elections Chair Benjamin Abalos Sr., acting Commission on Higher Education Chair Romulo Neri, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye, and Philippine National Police Director General Avelino Razon Jr. in “starring roles.”

Vehicles passing by La Salle honked their horns in solidarity with those attending the Mass. Streamers that read: “Busina Para sa Katotohanan” and “Blow Your Horns, Support the Truth” were prominently displayed at the approach of the school.

At the other side of the metropolis, Palace officials wondered why Lozada was being played up as a “paragon of truth” and “lionized” by anti-Arroyo forces.

Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez observed that even businessman Jose “Joey” de Venecia III was not given the same treatment. Joey is the son of the former House Speaker and former presidential ally and was the “first whistle-blower” in the controversy.

“Why was Joey not lionized?” Gonzalez said in a phone interview, noting that Lozada, who he said had been “made a saint already,” merely corroborated what De Venecia and Neri had said in the Senate hearing.

“No one has been lionized like this, not even Clarissa Ocampo,” said Gonzalez of the former bank official and key witness in the 2001 Senate investigation into corruption allegations against then President Joseph Estrada. Ocampo’s testimony helped bring down Estrada in 2001. With a report from Beverly Trinidad