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Rodolfo “Jun” Lozada, Jr. still has one more hearing to endure. I hope he rests well. I for one have many more questions than I have answers about the involvement of Jun Lozada with regards to the scrapped $329 million NBN deal with Chinese Firm ZTE. I also have questions about his abduction.

For one, he clearly states the appearance of his abductors, but as can be seen in the video footage within the airport, that the description doesn’t match. I would’ve liked the Senate to have questioned him about this, if they did, then I must have missed it. And what about the 10 minutes that they said he took in one of the toilets at the airport, he said he called his brother and told him he was grabbed but he didn’t know by whom? In that 10 minutes, he could have called more people or given more information. Again, this is considering that it was actually 10 minutes.

Of course, the testimonies were long, and Lozada could not answer them one by one. Juan Ponce Enrile wanted Lozada to refute each and every statement that the Government’s men made. Of course, after hours at the hearing, Lozada couldn’t enumerate. At one point Lozada had to take out his notes.

Upon advice from his lawyer, Lozada said that he could not say which of all the statements given were false since he didn’t have a written transcript of all that was said. He’s not that good of an Engineer. So, we all have to wait until the next hearing for our questions to be answered. Senator Alan Cayetano informed Lozada that he would be furnished a copy of the transcript and given time to refute each and every statement that was made by the Government’s men.

Let’s be clear, even after being grilled, Lozada did not deviate from his testimony, unlike Brig. Gen. (ret.) Angel Atutubo, NAIA security chief, who seemed bewildered as to his role in providing security. In his statement, when asked by Senator Biazon as to the proper procedures regarding returning overseas travelers having to pass through immigration, he said that they would have to ask Immigration that. Implying that it was not his job to know that. I guess terrorists should be happy that security personnel don’t know proper procedures and that they also don’t know who’s on the watchlist. Of course, this was a major inconsistency in Atutubo’s testimony. Mascariñas didn’t fair better either, when asked about the route they took to “secure” Lozada. How do you spot a liar? When the liar can’t and won’t answer in a straightforward manner.

There’s more that doesn’t add up, but let’s wait until the next hearing. The most we learned from the latest hearing is that all the government’s men denied everything. Mike Defensor gave Lozada P50,000 for spending money. Atutubo doesn’t know his duty. Joker’s wife talked to Lozada. There’s more anomalies to be heard (Southrail). Lozada is not a saint, neither were all the men seated beside him. Government was behind his trip abroad. Some Senators knew that Lozada would be coming back. The letter to Enrile was texted by Poblador to Lozada.

Another important part of the ” abduction” is that Lozada says he signed the affidavits at the office of Atty. Bautista last Wednesday, which he says were under duress (just look at Mascariñas) and found Mascariñas intimidating. Bautista also tried to say that it wasn’t under duress, and that Lozada even made corrections. Upon inspection however, Lozada informs the Senate that it is not his handwriting… In fact, Lozada was consistent, but still left a little more questioning to be had.

The big picture? Why go to all this trouble with Lozada, when the Government could easily have handed him over to The Senate? As Senator Villar asked, why fear the Senate? If there’s nothing to hide, why all the big players involved?