Will the Ombudsman act on the ZTE-NBN scam?

It’s been a week since Engr. Rodolfo Noel Lozada Jr. did the nation a favor when he literally “spilled the beans” on the controversial ZTE-NBN deal exposing the greed of well-placed government officials, who go on expensive lunches at the Makati Shangri-La to connive and contrive on how to get more money from the government treasury which as you all know is taxpayer’s money . . . our money! I don’t know how many times I have written in this corner that when it comes to infrastructure projects, government funds are woefully lacking, but there’s lots of money for stealing!

But as I have always maintained, for as long as this circus continues to be shown in the Senate, the dark and stark shadow of political opportunism will taint those proceedings with partisan politics and then the Filipino people will wake up to the reality that all this was not done to stop corruption, but ensure that the opposition wins the control of Malacañang in the coming 2010 elections or earlier, which ever comes first!

Last Friday, like millions of Filipinos all over the country, I was totally convinced by Jun Lozada that he was indeed “kidnapped.” However after DENR Secretary Lito Atienza and Philippine National Police (PNP) chief  Director General Avelino Razon Jr. attended the second hearing and gave their version, it was then we learned that Jun Lozada didn’t put up a struggle or commotion while he was still at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA). If his life was truly under a grave threat or in danger he could have made a scene and attracted attention so he won’t be kidnapped!

Then we got those reports that while he was being “kidnapped,” he always had access to his cellphone. If this is true, then he cannot really say that he was after all being kidnapped. This is where the problem lies; Jun Lozada insists that he was kidnapped, while Atienza and Razon said he wasn’t; but because this circus is being played in the Senate, they cannot judge on what was really the truth. So now, this matter has become another political football and reduced to a pro-administration or opposition decision. But it should not be. This is why we must insist that this matter should be decided in a court of law so that the liars would have to pay for their lies!

Let us be reminded that we are dealing with corruption in the highest echelons of the government and all of a sudden, the Office of the Ombudsman has awaken from its slumber and will now do its own investigating. Do we have to tell you again that corruption exists because the people tasked to check this cancer in our society are sleeping on the job?

Months ago when Joey de Venecia pointed his finger at former Comelec chairman Benjamin Abalos, that should have already triggered an investigation by the Ombudsman. When Sec. Romy Neri appeared in that earlier Senate investigation, he also pointed a finger at Abalos and it just surprises me that the Ombudsman at that time didn’t bother to budge even with those very public accusations. This is where I’ve been saying that the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) should have come in very strongly and chastised the Ombudsman for doing nothing.

Now whether he believes it or not, for as long as Jun Lozada allows himself to be used by the opposition in their very objective to win Malacañang by hook or by crook, then he will start to lose his credibility. Many of us believe that he is telling the truth, but we are getting disturbing reports that he is already being “coached” as to what he would say. For instance in the “kidnapping” issue, Jun Lozada knew that he left for Hong Kong to avoid the Senate probe, hence he already knew what to expect when he came home. So it is very possible that he wanted some kind of security assistance, otherwise, who knows he might not get to the hallowed halls of the Senate.

There is no question that we should all fight corruption where we see it, but like what we wrote earlier this week, the Senate has done its job and so now we expect that this case should be tried in our courts not in the court of public biased opinion. As we have seen in the subsequent Senate hearings, Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano no longer acts like the chairman of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, rather he acts more like Lozada’s chief defender or apologist. What we expect is fairness and nothing more.

Finally, I got a texted report that a Sanctuary Fund is being set up for the defense of Jun Lozada, but he must know that the silent majority would certainly refrain from helping him set up this fund if he continues to be a tool of the opposition who maybe planning to escalate this affair to trigger another EDSA revolt in their desperation to take over Malacañang.

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For email responses to this article, write to [email protected] or [email protected]. His column can be accessed through www.philstar.com. He also hosts a weekly talkshow entitled, “Straight from the Sky” shown every Monday only in Metro Cebu on Channel 15 on SkyCable at 8 p.m.