Lozada surrenders, posts bail

(UPDATE) NBN-ZTE whistleblower Rodolfo "Jun" Lozada Jr. surrendered to the police on Monday morning.

Accompanied by members of the Association of Major Religious Superiors of the Philippines (AMRSP), Lozada arrived at the Philippine National Police - Criminal Investigation and Detection Group's headquarters in Camp Crame, Quezon City at around 7 a.m.

Lozada underwent booking procedures before heading to Sandiganbayan to post bail.

Accompanied by AMRSP members, Lozada arrived at the anti-graft court's Fourth Division around 10 a.m.

Lozada is expected to post of P60,000 for two counts of graft.

His brother reportedly also went to Sandiganbayan to post P30,000 bail.

The Sandiganbayan issued the arrest warrant last Jan. 23 and released it five days after.

AMRSP Executive Secretary Father Marlon Lacal said Lozada could not eat well in the past days due to the harassment on the whistle-blower.

"Hindi gaanong nakakain kaya nakakaawa talaga," Lacal told reporters.

Lacal said after posting the bail, they will be bringing back Lozada to his safehouse where he would be temporarily staying.

AMRSP representatives have been providing Lozada protection in the past few weeks after the Sandiganbayan issued a warrant for his arrest in connection with the graft charges filed against him for the granting of leasehold rights to his brother and to a private company connected with his wife when he was president and chief executive officer of the state-run Philippine Forest Corp. in 2009.

Last week, Lacal revealed that four armed men who identified themselves as agents of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) went to Lozada's residence and harassed his household helpers.

Lacal said that the "agents" threatened to arrest the household helpers when they refused to reveal their employer's whereabouts.

Lozada is one of the key witnesses of the government in the graft charges filed against former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, former first gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo, former poll chief Benjamin Abalos Sr., former Transportation Secretary Leandro Mendoza, and former National Economic and Development Authority chief Romulo Neri, were based on the botched $329-million NBN project signed by the government with China's ZTE Corp. in 2007.