MANILA, Philippines – Saying that he was ready to go to jail, Philippine Forest Corp. (PFC) officer-in-charge Erwin Santos broke his silence on the alleged irregularities committed by his predecessor Rodolfo Noel “Jun” Lozada Jr., the primary witness of the Senate in the ongoing inquiry into the national broadband network (NBN) controversy.
Santos said he is willing to turn state witness to help the government go after Lozada.
Santos appeared on the television program “Boses” of the state-run NBN-4, claiming that he and Lozada made illicit transactions before his boss resigned from the PFC to become a witness for the Senate.
Santos claimed being a trusted aide of Lozada and Program Development Officer, so he knows how his former boss deals with several transactions concerning the PFC.
Lozada had called Santos a “Judas” for allegedly turning over PFC documents detailing business deals and transactions to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) for a price.
In the interview, Santos said Lozada called him twice after his first appearance at the Senate and directly called him a Judas.
Santos first appeared in media last week when the NBI allegedly raided the PFC office in Taguig and seized several documents as part of its own investigation into the alleged irregularities committed by Lozada during his stint as the corporation’s president.
Santos broke down in tears several times during the interview because of what he described as his close relationship with his former boss.
Santos conceded that Lozada looked after the welfare of the employees of the PFC, something Lozada took great pride in during his statements at the Senate.
He said Lozada trusted him as a close aide and relied on him to work on various transactions involving procurement and land transfers.
Many of the supposed irregularities already came out during the Lozada’s first appearance before the Senate when Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago presented several documents containing the alleged questionable transactions at the PFC.