By Ronron
February 17, 2008
Two days after thousands gathered in Makati City to call for the resignation of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for allegedly tolerating the alleged anomaly behind the aborted National Broadband Network (NBN) project last year, a Catholic mass in La Salle Greenhills campus Sunday was also well attended by people who expressed support to NBN scandal witness Rodolfo “Jun” Lozada, Jr.
The mass, which began at 10 am and held at the La Salle Greenhills gymnasium, was attended by former President Corazon Aquino, former House Speaker Jose de Venecia, Jr., former Senate President Franklin Drilon, Manila City Mayor Alfredo Lim, and Lozada himself, among others.
The theme of the mass centered on calls for the Arroyo government to speak the truth not just behind the NBN controversy, but also on the alleged extrajudicial killings, the fertilizer fund scam, and the alleged 2004 electoral fraud, among others.
“Every government is therefore obliged to serve the truth if it is to truly serve the people. Its moral credibility and authority over a people is based on the extent of its defense of and submission to the truth,” said officiating priest Fr. Manoling Francisco in his homily before what organizers say was an estimated close to 8,000-strong crowd.
“In so far as a government is remiss in upholding the truth, in so far as a government actively suppresses the truth, it loses its authority vested upon it by the people,” he added.
Francisco said that unlike Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago and other government allies who doubt the credibility of Lozada, his personal verdict on the erstwhile NBN project consultant is that he is “a credible witness.”
“Jun, be assured that your solitude is no longer isolation as we profess our solidarity with you. You are not alone. We are committed to stay the course and to do our best to protect you and your family and the truth you have proclaimed,” Francisco said, eliciting cheers and applause from the mass attendees.
Francisco said what makes Lozada a credible witness is not only because “of his being an eyewitness to the unmitigated greed of some of our public officials,” but also he manifested what it is to be “truly human.”
“Proclaiming the truth to others, whatever the cost, is the mark of authentic humanity. Jun, we know you have feared for your life and continue to do so. But in transcending your fears for yourself and your family, you have reclaimed your humanity,” Franscisco said.
“And your courage and humility, despite harassment and calumniation by government forces, embolden us to retrieve and reclaim our humanity tarnished by our cowardice and complicity with sin in the world,” he went on.
Francisco said the administration’s failure in “its fundamental duty to uphold the truth” and when it is “constituted by an ethos of falsehood” make it lacking in moral authority over the people.
“When a pattern of negligence in investigating the truth, suppressing the truth and harassing those who proclaim the truth is reasonably established, then a government, in principle, loses its right to rule over and represent the people,” he said.
He enumerated the supposed negligence of the Arroyo government in seeking the truth behind the “failed automation of the national elections, the fertilizer scam, the extrajudicial killings, and the ‘Hello Garci’ scandal.”
As regards covering-up the truth allegedly by the administration, Francisco mentioned the alleged abduction of Lozada, and the alleged “twisting and manipulation” of (Lozada’s) narrative by Malacañang officials.
“Regarding suppression the truth: Does the issuance and implementation of (Executive Order) 464, which prevents government officials from testifying in Senate hearing without Malacañang’s permission, constitute suppression of the truth? Was the prevention of AFP chief of staff Gen. Senga and six other officers from testifying before the Senate with regard to the ‘Hello Garci’ scandal tantamount to a suppression of the truth? Was disallowing Brig. Gen. Quevedo, Lt. Col. Capuyan and Lt. Col. Sumayo from appearing before the Lower House an instance of hindering the truth from surfacing?” Francisco said.
“And regarding harassment of those who proclaim the truth: Are the abduction of Jun Lozada and the decision to court martial Gen. Gudani and Col. Balutan for disregarding Malacañang’s order not to testify before the Senate examples of punishing those who come forth to tell the truth?” he went on.
After the mass at shortly past 11 am, Aquino thanked the people, who filled up not just the second floor of the gymnasium but also the ground floor and the open ground outside, for heeding to her call to attend the Holy Mass.
Wearing a dress in her signature yellow color, the former President said in a brief speech that Lozada should take comfort in the people’s solidarity for him because this was the same factor that brought her to the helm in 1986 after the people ended the dictatorial rule of former President Ferdinand Marcos.
“I want us Filipinos to unite again. Sometimes, some people ask me if I don’t get tired of making the same call. I say, I have no choice, this is my only country, the Philippines, my beloved. So thank you very much for coming here today,” Aquino said.
“If we know how to get united, we will eventually see a brighter future for our country,” she added.
Asked in an ambush interview later if she is reiterating her call for Arroyo’s resignation, Aquino just said: “I’m praying for her.”
In response, Lozada said in his speech: “I thank President Cory because this is her idea to have a mass. Before, I thought I was just alone. Now, many have already adopted me.”
Sharing the call for unity by Aquino, Lozada said: “I hope there are no more just La Sallians, Thomasites, or Ateneans. We are all the same, Filipinos.” Lozada is an alumnus of the University of Santo Tomas in Manila City.
He then went on to read a prayer entitled, “Today, I Start The Change I Want To See,” which, he said, “sent me off to this course.”
“It’s really humbling that so many people are caring. Because when I did this (coming out with the expose on the NBN project), I was just trying to save my soul. I didn’t know I’d save our country’s soul,” Lozada said.
His closing words dealt on his personal hope that Filipinos will be able to find the right answers to questions of the young generation, particularly by his son, about the consequences in telling the truth.
“If it is true that you did well to the country, why is it that we are on the run?” Lozada repeated his son’s question as he lamented his family’s current disposition because of his expose.
“I hope everyone will help me find the answers to our children’s questions,” he said. “I hope what we can teach the children is that if you did right, you can walk outside with your head up.”
Outside the school campus after the mass, some former high-ranking government officials challenged all incumbent officials – Cabinet Secretaries, Undersecretaries, Heads of Agencies “who know about these anomalous transactions to join the heroic stand of Jun Lozada to come forward and speak out.”
Reading a statement signed by at least 54 former officials including him, former Philippine Ambassador to the United States Albert del Rosario said: “We call on all those who know about the extrajudicial killings and disappearances to go public and tell the truth. We call on all those who can no longer endure this wrongful governance, with its structures of evil and unmoderated greed: IT IS TIME TO CUT CLEAN! IT IS TIME TO GO!”
Del Rosario said Lozada’s expose on the NBN deal just confirmed what they, former officials, know. That is, “our country is sliding into moral decadence.”
“We can no longer console ourselves in the strength of the peso, narrowing deficits, and an expanding economy. Even these ephemeral gains have not translated into a better life for the majority of our people, especially the poor,” he said.
Among the signatories who are also present in yesterday’s mass were former Education Secretary Florencio Abad, former Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Teresita Deles, former NEDA Secretary-General and Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno, former Executive Secretary Franklin Drilon, and former Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima.
Jennifer Oreta, 39, a faculty member of Ateneo de Manila University, said she, her husband, and their son attended the mass even if they were only outside the gymnasium because her family wants to express their support to calls for Arroyo’s resignation.
“It’s about time we uncover and know the truth behind the (NBN) controversy, which the Arroyo administration tried to suppress for so long,” she said in an interview after the mass.
A participant in the People Power 1 Revolution in 1986, and the People Power 2 Revolution in 2001, Oreta said she believes Sunday’s activity brought about by Lozada’s expose “is a beginning of a groundswell.”
She said calls for Arroyo’s ouster may not immediately be realized now, but she recalled that it was not also an immediate removal from office of Marcos and former President Joseph Estrada.
“She (Arroyo) must take a leave of absence and order an independent body to investigate all these controversies because the message this government is sending now is that ‘it’s okay to cheat, it’s okay to lie’,” Oreta said.
The police, meanwhile, said the activity went peacefully and smoothly, that most of their men did not even had to unload from their vehicles.
Eastern Police District (EPD) Director Chief Supt. Nilo dela Cruz said they have deployed about 200 policemen near La Salle Greenhills to ensure security while the mass was being held. Most of them were stationed at the EDSA Shrine about 200 meters away from La Salle Greenhills.
The ground commander who went near La Salle Greenhills, Supt. Joveth Asayo, the Mandaluyong City Police Deputy Chief, said their estimate of the crowd was only 4,000 to 5,000.
He said the only problem was the traffic along Ortigas Avenue fronting La Salle Greenhills gate because vehicles of participants to the mass occupied almost half of the lane.
Dela Cruz said the camera installed in front of the La Salle Greenhills gate was useful only in so far as monitoring the traffic situation is concerned. But he denied it was used to monitor the people who attended the mass, despite being told that the camera was often times seen pointed at the gate, instead of the direction of the road.
Dela Cruz said they might consider removing the camera if they find merit in a formal request or action that will be taken by the La Salle brothers.
The camera was installed last Thursday afternoon primarily to monitor the traffic in that part of Ortigas Avenue, said dela Cruz. But he admitted that it will also be useful to monitor the gate of La Salle Greenhills for anti-criminality purposes especially that the students in that school are children of prominent and well-to-do families./DMS
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