Sandiganbayan grills whistleblower on gov’t anomalies under his watch

MANILA, Philippines—Defense lawyers cross-examined government witness Rodolfo “Jun” Lozada at the Sandiganbayan hearing of the case filed against former Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairman Benjamin Abalos.

Lozada was confronted about his involvement in past anomalous government contracts which he brokered as a ‘technical adviser’ of former National Economic Development Authority (NEDA)director general Romulo Neri.
Among these was a pending case filed against him in connection with an anomalous P14-million transaction at the Philippine Forest Corporation (FPC), which Lozada managed from 2006 to 2008.
Lozada initially told defense counsel Gabriel Villareal that he could not recall the case, but later acknowledged the existence of the anomaly when presented documentary proof of the incident, which was first investigated in the Senate.

The transaction involved a P19 million allocation by PFC for an economic productivity program for idle lands to be used to cultivate fiber crops and jathropa, an alternative fuel crop. The Senate had uncovered that only P 5 million was actually used for the project, while P 14 million was set aside for the brother of Neri.

At one point during the proceedings, presiding Justice Gregory Ong ruled on the numerous objections raised by the prosecution to protect Lozada, and ordered prosecutor Ireneo Paldeng to stick to the basis for his objections, instead of delivering lengthy explanations which suggested answers to the witness while on the stand.

“This is an intelligent witness who can get clues from your statements.” Ong pointed out.

Lozada insisted he could not recall as well, an incident involving the alleged overpricing by P 70 million of the Southrail project. The prosecutor objected about the line of questioning, claiming the matters raised were irrelevant. But Villareal dismissed the objection, ruling that the past transactions were important as it gave a picture of Lozada’s credibility.

The anti-graft court questioned Lozada why he and Neri authorized the $65 million overprice in the ZTE-NBN contracts, which Lozada justified “was within permissible zone of morality.”

“We were still saving money,” Lozada answered, prompting Justice Jose Hernandez to clarify whether it is “ok to steal as long as money is saved.”

Lozada replied that “money will be stolen anyway,” adding that “we (referring to himself and Neri) cannot do anything about it.”

Abalos, as well as former NEDA chief Romulo Neri, were slapped with a case for violating the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

Abalos was accused of bribing Neri in exchange for the contract’s approval, while Neri was accused of approving the deal despite knowledge of supposed irregularities in the contract.