merchant
Number of posts : 83
KARMA : 2
Registration date : 2009-02-23
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 Subject: Lozada not giving up quest for truth despite arrest Thu Apr 30, 2009 4:33 pm |
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MANILA, Philippines – He may be in detention over perjury charges, but Rodolfo Noel Lozada Jr. is standing his ground in unmasking supposed irregularities surrounding the government’s botched national broadband network project with China's ZTE Corp.
"I reiterate my stand and my decision is not surrendering. I value liberty but I value truth more," Lozada said in a letter read by Sister Estrella Castalone of the Association of Major Religious Superiors of the Philippines (AMRSP).
Lozada had been detained at the Manila Police District (MPD) Headquarters’ Warrant and Subpoena Section since his arrest on Wednesday. The arrest stemmed from the perjury case lodged by former presidential chief of staff and defeated senatorial candidate Michael Defensor.
In his letter, Lozada said that he did not resist arrest and detention so that "a speedy and fair trial" could ensue.
He also reiterated that Defensor was only covering-up for the supposed "criminal involvement" of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in the controversial $329 million broadband deal with China’s Zhong Xing Telecommunication Equipment (ZTE) Corp. President Arroyo aborted the deal at the height of the controversy in 2007.
Defensor had denied that the perjury charges against Lozada were politically-motivated and that the Arroyo administration was out to harass the man who blew the whistle on the broadband deal.
Lozada had earlier said Defensor gave him P50,000 to retract his statement that he was kidnapped by government officials when he arrived in the Philippines from Hong Kong in February 2008.
But Defensor claimed Lozada gave conflicting statements during a Senate blue ribbon committee hearing and during a Court of Appeals hearing on Lozada’s petition for the issuance of the writ of amparo.
Lozada, in his letter, dared Defensor to "substantiate his accusations against me." - Sophia Dedace, GMANews.TV
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