Palace wants Lozada to apologize for kidnap charge

Malacañang urged Rodolfo Lozada Jr., the whistleblower in the cancelled national broadband network contract with Chinese company ZTE Corp., to apologize to all of the people he accused of taking part in the alleged attempt to kidnap him now that the courts have ruled that no kidnapping took place.

Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Sergio Apostol said that the officials whom Lozada had implicated in his alleged abduction were the victims of a setup and deserve an apology from their accuser.

Among the officials mentioned by Lozada during his testimony about the alleged kidnapping incident at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) were Environment Secretary Lito Atienza and Philippine National Police chief Director General Avelino Razon Jr.

“He should apologize. The people who were maligned by him deserve an apology from him,” Apostol said.

Apostol said Lozada willingly went with the government security escorts that welcomed him during his arrival at the NAIA from Hong Kong and he was even given a meal along the way.

Instead of expressing gratitude, Apostol lamented that Lozada fabricated a story about his alleged abduction and made a big deal out of it.

He said that an apology might not even be enough to make up for the damage that he has already done to the reputation of the personalities he accused.

“They should charge Lozada once the ruling of the court becomes final,” Apostol said.

He said that Lozada could be charged with slander for coming up with the kidnapping story.

The Court of Appeals recently ruled that Lozada was neither kidnapped nor threatened by government authorities in response to his petition for a writ of amparo.

Atienza and Razon both denied the allegations of Lozada and stated that they arranged for the security detail at the airport upon the request of Lozada himself. — Marvin Sy