Lozada, ZTE whistle-blower, gets 10 years for graft

MANILA, Philippines – The Sandiganbayan yesterday sentenced whistle-blower Rodolfo Noel “Jun” Lozada Jr. to 10 years for graft for granting separate leasehold rights over public lands to his brother and a private company when he headed a government forestry agency.

Lozada said he would appeal the verdict by filing a motion for reconsideration.

The anti-graft court’s Fourth Division also found his brother Jose Orlando Lozada guilty and sentenced them to 10 years in prison.

The court also imposed on Jun Lozada the penalty of perpetual disqualification from holding public office.

“I’m not allowed to speak concerning the merits of the case. But what I can say is that this has been a continuing agony for me from the time I spoke on the NBN-ZTE deal,” Lozada said.

“I was just trying to do my job here, but what happens, is that the big fish are the ones who are being acquitted,” he said.

Lozada added the decision “will put to light the state of our judiciary.”

“The people themselves can weigh what is really true here in everything’s that happening,” he said.

In a 27-page decision penned by Associate Justice Geraldine Faith Ong, the court sustained the findings of the Office of the Ombudsman accusing Jun Lozada of conflict of interest when he granted a six-hectare leasehold right to his brother Jose Orlando on Dec. 18, 2009.

Jun Lozada was president and chief executive officer of Philippine Forest Corp. (PFC), a state-owned corporation under the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, tasked to award leasehold rights to qualified beneficiaries.

While in the performance of his official function, he caused the award of a leasehold right over a public land under the “Lupang Hinirang” program of the PFC to Transforma Quinta Inc., a private corporation in which he has a direct or indirect financial or pecuniary interest.

Lozada was appointed in conjunction with his wife, Ma. Violeta Lozada, by Transforma Quinta Inc. via board resolution to act on its behalf on certain financial transactions, “when as president it is his duty to award leasehold rights only to qualified beneficiaries,” the court said.

“The prosecution was able to satisfactorily prove that accused Jose Orlando, a consultant of PFC, was issued a Notice of Award despite the fact that he did not participate in the procedure for the pre-qualification, auction and award as laid out in the Terms of Reference.”

The Sandiganbayan said the privilege could not be extended to Jose Orlando since he is not qualified under the resolution of the PFC. “He should have applied and undergone the regular process under the Family Farm Package,” the court added.

Jun Lozada, however, was acquitted over charges of violation of Section 3(h) of Republic Act 3019, “having direct or indirect financing or pecuniary interest in any business, contract or transaction in connection with which he intervenes or takes part in his official capacity.”

“The fact of financial or pecuniary interest of Lozada in the transaction or in Transforma Quinta Inc. was not clearly established by the prosecution,” the court said.

“Whether accused Lozada encouraged the corporation to invest in agriculture is vague and ambivalent. He simply brought to the corporation the idea of investing in agriculture given its primary purpose. It could not be concluded that Lozada encouraged the corporation to apply for a leasehold right under the Lupang Hinirang project,” the decision read.

The Office of the Ombudsman affirmed its decision to file graft charges against Lozada when it denied his motion for reconsideration.

Lozada pleaded not guilty to the charges before the Sandiganbayan in October 2012 during a conditional arraignment for the purpose of allowing him to travel abroad.

Lozada was the whistle-blower in the multimillion-peso broadband deal with the Chinese telecommunications firm ZTE involving former president and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and former Commission on Elections chairman Benjamin Abalos Sr.