PNP continues to belie Lozada's claim he was abducted

By Ronron
February 8, 2008

Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Avelino Razon, Jr. on
Friday stood by its story that Rodolfo Noel "Jun" Lozada, Jr. was
never abducted by elements of the Police Security and Protection
Office (PSPO) when he arrived in the country last Tuesday afternoon.

Razon made the reiteration after Lozada insisted in his testimony
during yesterday's Senate hearing on the aborted National Broadband
Network (NBN) project that he never made a prior request for security
personnel from the PNP, and that he was taken by men who did not even
introduce themselves to him.

"We are not telling a lie. We have told the truth as to what happened
– that he requested for security detail as shown by the letter of his
letter and his own handwritten letter, which he prepared on his own
volition," Razon said in an interview at Camp Crame.

Razon said he is not also forced to lie about what happened to Lozada
as surmised by the latter at the Senate hearing.

"That is what we should look into - why the story is now different… We
will study why Mr. Lozada changed his statements that when he talked
to Secretary Atienza, he said he was apprehensive with the
Sergeant-at-Arms of the Senate, that when he talked to Secretary Mike
Defensor, he also said the same thing. Even when we talked over the
phone, he was thanking me and asking apology for supposedly disturbing
us. But I told him not to worry because we are just doing our job,"
Razon said in Filipino.

According to Razon, he ordered the provision of security personnel to
Lozada because Environment Secretary Lito Atienza conveyed to him the
supposed request of Lozada.

Razon said Atienza had confided with him the fears of Lozada when he
returns in the country, particularly his desire not to go to the
Senate and be subjected to the investigation on the NBN controversy.

And while under the protective custody of the PSPO, Lozada was also
free to move around and communicate with anybody, stressed Razon.

He said they could ask the De La Salle brothers to submit an affidavit
if necessary if only to prove that there no such thing as kidnapping
or abduction.

Told that Lozada claimed at the Senate that he was picked up at the
Ninoy Aquino International Airport by unknown men, and turned over
only later to policemen at a restaurant in Libis, Quezon City, Razon
said: "That is not true. From the start, we have designated the PSPO
to secure Mr. Lozada. He might just have been confused."

As regards the claim of Lozada that the letters he and his sister,
Carmen, made containing their request for security for him were
actually antedated, Razon just said: "The letter stands as a proof of
what we did to him."

The PNP distributed copies of the said letters on Thursday to the
media. The letters were dated February 5, but Lozada said those were
accomplished only on the night of that day hours after he was already
taken by policemen.

Asked if the PNP will file counter-charges against Lozada, Razon
replied: "Our plan is when the Senate invites us (for an
investigation over the matter), we will just show up there to explain
our side."

He said they will also find out if there are people or groups behind
Lozada in coming up with a different version of the story.

But Razon said the PNP is definitely not a part, if any, of any
conspiracy to prevent Lozada from speaking at the Senate of his
knowledge on the NBN issue.

"(Interior) Secretary (Ronaldo) Puno has stated very clearly that our
main purpose was to secure Mr. Lozada, not to prevent him from
testifying. If it was so, then we would not have turned him over to
the Sergeant-at-Arms at Greenhills, we would have done everything to
make sure that they could not get Mr. Jun Lozada," he said.

Lozada had said that former Comelec Chairman Benjamin Abalos was
trying to secure a $130 million kickback from ZTE Corporation if the
Chinese telecommunication firm gets to do the NBN project.

He also implicated First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo in the alleged
maneuvering of Abalos to get the project./DMS