Jun Lozada barred from leaving country

MANILA, Philippines – Whistle-blower Rodolfo “Jun” Lozada, who is facing graft charges for alleged corrupt practices during his stint in a state-owned company, cannot leave the country without permission from the courts.

The Sandiganbayan Fourth Division on Wednesday, August 22, issued two hold departure orders against Lozada, who was slapped with graft charges by the Office of the Ombudsman last week.

The Ombudsman filed two cases of graft against Lozada for alleged corrupt practices when he was president and CEO of state-owned Philippine Forest Corp (PFC) in 2007 to 2008.

In the first case, he was accused of granting an unlawful lease contract under a program of PFC to Transforma Quinta Inc, in which he and his wfie, Ma. Violeta, were appointed as representatives in certain transactions.

In 2008, Lozada blew the whistle on former President Gloria Arroyo’s husband, Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo, then Commission on Elections chair Benjamin Abalos, and former Cabinet officials, accusing them of taking bribes from Chinese officials in the botched $329-million NBN-ZTE deal. The project aimed to computerize the bureaucracy.

Lozada’s testimony at a Senate hearing triggered a full-blown investigation of the deal and the filing of charges against Abalos and former Economic Planning Secretary Romulo Neri.

The NBN-ZTE deal was one of the biggest scandals that hit the Arroyo administration. – Rappler.com