i attended a mass in search for truth last night at the Redemptorist church. the mass was organized by the Dilaab Foundation and officiated by Father Carmelo Diola and Fr. Rod Salazar. the mass was to show support to Rodolfo Noel "Jun" Lozada, the whistle-blower in the scrapped ZTE-NBN deal. it turned out that talks on the National Broadband Network project started as early as 2005 but DOTC managed to keep the discussions on such a very ambitious and big project under wraps. in a nutshell, the project aims to connect all government offices and local government units through internet in order to save on communication expenses/costs (according to DOTC data, government spends around Php 4 billion on telecommunication expenses alone). for political sharks and greedy politicians, the NBN project is an opportunity for them to take advantage and bleed Philippine coffers for their own pockets and self-interests. negotiations became shaky when the interest of the alleged broker, who wants the project implemented through a loan, was compromised or threatened. so he made threats to those who have full knowledge on the project. this is where jun lozada comes in.
i was unable to see the live coverage of his press conference at the De la Salle campus. i have no access to the idiot box for quite some time now (it seems like ages...centuries actually) and so i rely on print media (certified PDI reader cum fan) which means that i only get in touch with the news the day after it occurred. when i read about the events, what came to my mind was Clarissa Ocampo. hmmm... i thought...could he be another Clarissa O? but then again, the traitor Joker Arroyo would say that lozada is no Clarissa O.
anyway, i attended the mass because i believe in what Lozada is saying in the ZTE-NBN scam. i believe in lozada because he knows what he's talking about...because he was there...he knows what's it like. ofcourse, many critics question his motives for coming out especially since he admitted that he wanted to dodge the senate inquiry. others also say that lozada could just be a front or a ploy of a presidential wanna-be who wants to establish his name in preparation for 2010.
but i ask, what does lozada have to gain in this hullabaloo? what is in this mess that is worth risking his life and the safety of his love ones? why did he decide come out when he could have just accepted the money, leave the country and start all over again as if everything was nothing but a nightmare? he only has redemption to gain in all this. i know he has his own faults and shortcomings...he's no saint...nobody is anyway. but i admire him for admitting that he is not a clean man and there are some things he is not proud of doing. to admit this is no easy feat. to say that your hands are dirty because you did things to "moderate their greed" is a gargantuan challenge that only a man of courage can do. that is what i think of lozada... a good man who did bad things but found the courage to admit his mistakes and correct them. but let me share a quote from a lady (i forgot to get her name) about what she thought of jun lozada and the ZTE-NBN scam. she said "
we need a dirty man to show us how dirty our society is...the ins and outs of politics... the SOPs in government transactions. only a man who had a direct hand in such things can tell us what is really going on." i definitely agree with her.
Lozada has showed us just how corrupt our society is...how embedded corruption is in our culture...how it has become part of our lives... how graft and corruption has become a standard operating procedure in philippine politics. but what is more surprising and appalling is the extent and pervasiveness of corruption in Philippine society and politics. 200 million pesos(Abalos' offer to Neri)...197million dollars (overpriced amount of the NBN project)...130 million dollars (Abalos' share in the project)... what the f*** is that?!? can you imagine 200 million pesos? or 197 million DOLLARS?!? these are flagrant figures and simply unimaginable. no wonder, the peso is of little value nowadays. why opt for peso when you can have them in dollars...not just dollars honey, 9 digits will do. people's greed nowadays are much higher than Taipei 101 building.
perhaps, jun lozada's testimonies should serve as our long overdue wake up call on the extent of corruption in our nation and just how sick our system is. embarrassing as it is to admit but the kind of society we have now is the product of our own doing. we have graft and corruption because we allowed it to happen...we tolerated it to exist...we let the big fish get away...we let politicians take advantage of government...we are afraid to make officials responsible and accountable of their actions. but the question now, do we allow these things to continue? jun lozada has provided us with the picture of how corruption works and how it looks like...what more do we need to know? when will we act collectively to curb and eliminate the evils of corruption?
the mass last night was in support of jun lozada. the invitation was clear. come if you believe in jun lozada. for me, to support lozada would mean that you want to put an end to graft and corruption. so i was dismayed to see empty pews last night. i do not know if people did not come because they were tired or had other things to do...or perhaps, they just did not want to come. and if it's the latter, God help this nation.
p.s. aying and i made the streamer...for inquiries, please call....hehehehhe(^_^)
where do we go from here? :P 