Mike Defensor files perjury complaint vs Lozada

MANILA, Philippines - Former presidential chief of staff Michael “Mike" Defensor on Friday filed perjury charges against Senate witness Rodolfo "Jun" Lozada for conflicting versions of stories that the whistleblower said during the Senate hearing and a court hearing. The complaint was filed before the Manila Prosecutor’s Office against national broadband network (NBN) deal whistleblower Rodolfo “Jun" Lozada. In his six-page complaint before 2nd Assistant City Prosecutor Hannibal Santillan, Defensor denied allegations that he paid Lozada P50,000 in exchange for amending the whistleblower's statement regarding the NAIA kidnap attempt against Lozada and the NBN-ZTE deal. Lozada is the former President of Philippine Forest Corporation (Philforest) who exposed the supposed anomalies in the aborted NBN project between the Philippine government and China’s ZTE Corp. Defensor said he only knew about the alleged kidnapping of Lozada from news reports and that when he found out that Lozada took refuge at the De La Salle Dormitory in Greenhills, he immediately went there to verify his condition. Lozada had allowed Defensor to see him and Defensor said that he asked Lozada about the Habeas Corpus and Writ of Amparo petitions he filed before the courts. Lozada told him that the cases were filed by his wife and his brother. In his affidavit, Defensor said Lozada also told him that he did not want to appear in the Senate which had long invited him to testify on the ZTE-NBN project. “I told him to think hard about the matter and offered my help," said Defensor. When Defensor testified before the Senate, he said Lozada did not correct or negate his statement regarding their conversation at the meeting in De La Salle Greenhills. Defensor said that he testified before the Senate about Lozada’s alleged kidnapping which had been in the news for days and that Lozada had also told Defensor that he was not restricted in his movements when he was allegedly kidnapped. On the other hand, Defensor said that Lozada, in the subsequent Court of Appeals hearing in a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus and Writ of Amparo on May 13, 2008, changed his story and testified under oath saying that Defensor convinced him to lie and say that he was not kidnapped, and that he did not know anything about the NBN-ZTE deal. Lozada also told the court, Defensor said, that Defensor had implied Malacanang may do things if he did not cooperate with the plan to change his testimony. “Mr. Lozada’s testimony before the Senate significantly deviated from that he gave before the Court of Appeals. In the Senate, he stated that I asked him to deny that he was kidnapped; in the Court of Appeals, however, he said (i) I asked him to deny any knowledge about the NBN-ZTE deal; (ii) I threatened him about his going against Malacanang, and if he does, the staff working there will destroy his credibility through the media, and (iii) I offered him ‘hush money’ in exchange for his retraction or silence," said Defensor. Defensor said that based on these, his lawyers had informed him that Lozada can be held liable for perjury as defined and punished under Article 183 of the Revised Penal Code. - GMANews.TV