MANILA, Philippines -- Rodolfo Noel Lozada Jr. Thursday scoffed at his former assistant’s allegations that he was involved in “crimes” and questionable land dealings when he was chief executive officer of Philippine Forest Corp. (Philforest).

In a tearful televised interview, Erwin Santos, who was appointed Philforest acting chief executive after his boss resigned before he testified at the Senate inquiry into the scrapped broadband deal, said Lozada flouted the bidding process and gave free land to three of his siblings.

In a phone interview, Lozada said he wasn’t able to catch Santos’ interview which aired on government television stations as he was asleep.

When told of Santos’ accusations on national TV, Lozada admitted to leasing government lands to three of his siblings and to relatives of Philforest employees, including Santos’ sibling.

The transactions, he noted, were all aboveboard and were approved by the executive board.

Lozada explained that the program was part of Philforest’s “Lupang Hinirang” project, which aims to raise funds for the government by leasing idle lands to the public.

The project, which was approved by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, started last year, he said.

Make the lands productive

“The government has no money so they came out with a policy to make the lands productive. This is open to the public,” Lozada said, adding that even Philforest employees and their relatives availed themselves of the project.

“Even Erwin’s brother wanted land. All employees were allowed to lease. It was approved by the board,” Lozada said.

Under the program, a family can bid for idle lands identified by Philforest. Only 10 percent of the land should be used for infrastructure. The rest should be used for farming or cultivating productive crops.

“You cannot use it to build a subdivision,” Lozada said.

As for Santos’ allegation that he skirted the bidding process for certain projects, Lozada said the authorities should talk to those who were in charge of the procurement procedure, including Santos who knows the nitty-gritty of the process.

“I was the company president. I let my assistants handle those things,” he said.

‘Super alalay’

“Everything I did in Philforest was approved by the executive board,” Lozada said.

He said he “expected” the allegations from Santos, whom he described as his “super alalay” (aide) at Philforest.

Lozada said Santos’ colleagues in Philforest were “disappointed” with him (Santos) and were thinking of calling it quits.

“I’m sad that he’s being used against me,” he said, adding that his enemies were doing everything to discredit him.

No saint

Carmen Lozada, Lozada’s elder sister, said her brother had admitted that he wasn’t a saint.

“The [land] issue was raised by Sen. Miriam Santiago. Jun said he did things that he regretted. That was part of it,” Carmen said in Filipino.

Carmen also noted that her siblings denied that the land was given to them for free. “It was leased,” she said.