Lozada stays in jail

As I write this, ZTE whistleblower Jun Lozada is still in a small and cramped room inside the Manila Police District headquarters. Yesterday, MPD officers arrested him after he refused to post bail shortly after being made to answer to a perjury charge filed by former Arroyo Chief of Staff Mike Defensor. Defensor, a known staunch ally of Mrs. Arroyo, filed the perjury case after Lozada allegedly lied about his true participation in the ZTE controversy.

Defensor said, he's willing to go to the Supreme Court just to prove his case. He is doing it for his children which he presented before the media in his press conference yesterday.

Defensor said it is not about politics this time--it's about honor. He wants to protect his name which he said remains "unsullied" yet was "smeared" when Lozada told everyone how Defensor tried to coax him to lie about his alleged abduction.

Defensor may have his reasons but are those reasons really non-political or not just for show? Defensor said he wants to protect his children, but if he really intended that, why go to such lengths as present all of his five kids before the prying eyes of the media? Surely, Defensor's dramatics are counter-measures to dilute the possible emotional outbursts that a Lozada arrest is expected to generate.

Lozada remains in jail, a victim, says former presidents Cory Aquino and Joseph Estrada, of government injustice. People ask why he continues to reject pleas for him to post bail. Senators Richard Gordon, Ping Lacson and Mar Roxas, even Manila mayor Alfredo Lim, all gave 6,000 pesos for Lozada to use in his bail. Lozada said thanks but respectfully gave all their monies back.

Why?

What this case says is this---you, Lozada, should rot in jail because you sided with the "wrong crowd" (opposition), hindi ka kasangga or KAKAMPI, and you should suffer". That's what Congressmen Dado and Mikey Arroyo said in their respective statements yesterday. In fact, they all wished him to suffer the fate of condemned criminals in Saudi Arabia.

What this government is trying to tell us is simply---shut your mouths up. If you see injustice, don't speak. Just close your eyes and toe the line. Just do your business.

So what if we want to get a US$ 300 million commission from a sorely defective telecomms project? So, what the hell if we decide to give millions to the First Gentleman and Chairman Abalos? So what if we tried to protect all our hides and file charges against those who chose to stray? And so what if we pour millions of pesos just to kill the story in the media?

With all their millions and billions, these devils failed to gag a person like Lozada. Why? Because Lozada chose to be on the "wrong side", that is, on the side of Light, of Truth, of Real Justice.

In the eyes of these corrupt and evil men, the right side is graft and corrupt practices. And the wrong side is morality, Truth and justice.

Lozada continues to reject the help being extended by well-meaning friends simply because 6,000 pesos is really not the right price for Truth. No.

If Lozada posts bail, it is as if he admitted that he told a lie. Defensor and his ilk wanted Lozada to re-write history to suit their personal interests. Defensor wants Lozada to "re-imagine" what happened and strike him out of the picture and eventually a new version of the ZTE scandal would emerge from a Lozada statement.