DEFENSOR WITHDRAWS CASE VS LOZADA

MANILA, MAY 29, 2009 (STAR) A Manila City court judge yesterday offered a second thanksgiving prayer after former presidential chief of staff Michael Defensor sent a letter expressing interest to withdraw the perjury complaint he filed against ZTE-national broadband network (NBN) whistle-blower Rodolfo Noel Lozada Jr.

Manila City Metropolitan Trial Court (MCMTC) Branch 26 Judge Jorge Emmanuel Lorredo yesterday said Defensor sent a three-paragraph letter hinting that he is withdrawing his complaint against his estranged friend because he also believes that the court was biased.

Lorredo received the letter before the start of the pre-trial, right after the opening prayer and the court was called in session.

After scanning the contents, he asked those in the courtroom to stand once more and to join him in a thanksgiving prayer because Defensor listened to his appeal to withdraw the perjury case against Lozada.

“I am no longer interested in pursuing the present case. While I am very much determined to seek relief for the criminal acts committed by Mr. Jun Lozada that caused serious injury upon my person, I feel that I may not be able to obtain impartial justice from the Honorable Court,” Defensor said in his letter, a copy of which was given to the media by his representative.

He said, “With all due respect, even a cursory reading of the orders issued by the Honorable Court would expose the Honorable Presiding Judge’s bias in favor of the accused. I am thus seeking the indulgence of the Honorable Court as I will not be able to attend the hearings while my lawyers and I are preparing the documents necessary to cause the withdrawal of my complaint.”

However, Lorredo said that since they could not dismiss the case just on the basis of a letter, they set another hearing, on June 11, for the trial proper.

They are hoping that Defensor would be able to attend the hearing, so he could appear and confirm that he is truly withdrawing the case.

“We need to terminate the pre-trial because he could always change his mind,” Lorredo said.

Lozada regarded the withdrawal of the case as a “victory of the people.” He also said that he would stand by his statement and his beliefs.

Malacañang, meantime, denied that it had any hand in the decision of Defensor to withdraw his perjury case against Lozada. – Evelyn Maacairan, Marvin Sy

Defensor 'di na raw interesado sa kasong isinampa kay Lozada

05/28/2009 | 06:01 PM
MANILA – Hindi na umano umaasa si presidential chief of staff Michael Defensor na makakukuha ng patas na pagdinig sa kasong perjury na isinampa niya laban kay Rodolfo Lozada Jr., kaya iuurong na niya ang reklamo.

Sa ulat ng dzBB radio nitong Huwebes, sinabing nagpadala na umano si Defensor ng sulat kay Manila Metropolitan Trial Court Branch 26 Presiding Judge Jorge Emmanuel Lorredo na nagsasaad na hindi na siya interesadong isulong ang kaso kay Lozada.

Si Lozada ay naging testigo ng Senado sa ginawang imbestigasyon sa kinanselang national broadband network project sa ZTE Corp ng China.

Ginawa umano ni Defensor ang hakbang sa mismong araw na itinakda ng korte ang pre-trial sa inihain niyang kaso laban kay Lozada.

Inihayag umano ni Defensor sa ulat na hindi na siya umaasa na magiging patas ang gagawing pagdinig sa kanyang kaso.

Una rito, pinayuhan ni Lorredo si Defensor na iurong na ang demanda kay Lozada dahil posibleng makaladkad sa pagdinig sina Pangulong Gloria Arroyo at First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo.

Ang naturang payo ni Lorredo ay hindi naman nagustuhan ni Justice Sec. Raul Gonzalez at kinastigo ang naturang hukom.

Sa kabila nito, umaasa umano si Defensor na makakakuha siya ng patas na pagdinig sa ibang lugar ngunit hindi binanggit kung saan.

Ang kaso ni Defensor ay kaugnay “pagsundo" kay Lozada nang dumating sa Ninoy Aquino International Airport noong Pebrero 5, 2008 mula sa Hong Kong.

Sinabi ni Lozada na “dinukot" siya ng mga tauhan ng gobyerno upang pigilan siyang dumalo sa gagawing imbestigasyon ng Senado tungkol sa $329.48-milyong broadband deal.

Idinagdag ni Lozada na pinakiusapan siya ni Defensor na itanggi na may kinalaman ang pamahalaan sa naganap na “pagdukot" sa kanya. Mariin naman itong pinabulaanan ng dating opisyal na naging dahilan ng pagsasampa niya ng kaso. - GMANews.TV

Defensor to drop perjury case vs Lozada - report

SOPHIA M. DEDACE, GMANews.TV
05/28/2009 | 10:14 AM

MANILA, Philippines – Saying he does not expect a fair trial, former presidential chief of staff Michael Defensor on Thursday said he would not pursue the perjury case against Rodolfo Lozada Jr., the whistleblower in the allegedly anomalous national broadband network project with China's ZTE Corp.

Radio dzBB’s Carlo Mateo said that Defensor sent a letter to Manila Metropolitan Trial Court Branch 26 Presiding Judge Jorge Emmanuel Lorredo indicating that he is not interested to pursue the case.

Defensor, an ally of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, made the move on the same day that the court was set to hold the pre-trial on the perjury case.
The report quoted the defeated senatorial bet in the 2007 elections as saying that he is not expecting that the court proceedings would be impartial.

Lorredo had earlier advised Defensor to drop the case because President Arroyo and First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo might be dragged into the proceedings by Lozada’s defense team by invoking certain provisions of the Rules of Court, in which case the court may be compelled to grant such request.

But Lorredo came under fire following his supposed “unsolicited advice."
Lorredo’s remark that the perjury case against Lozada might be a prelude to martial rule also drew criticism.

Even as he reportedly intends to drop the charge, Defensor said he is still confident that he could get a fair trial against Lozada in another venue.
Defensor filed the perjury case in connection with Lozada’s claim that government authorities had abducted him upon his arrival at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport February 5 last year from Kong.

Lozada had alleged that the "abduction" was to prevent him from appearing before the Senate hearing on the $329.48-million broadband deal mess.

The government entered into the allegedly overpriced deal with China’s Zhong Xing Telecommunications Equipment Inc. (ZTE) but President Arroyo subsequently aborted the agreement at the height of the controversy in 2007.

High-profile personalities like the First Gentleman and former Commission on Elections (Comelec) chair Benjamin Abalos were dragged into the mess. Both Mr. Arroyo and Abalos have denied the allegations against them. - GMANews.TV

Mike Defensor drops libel suit vs Jun Lozada

By Benjamin B. Pulta
05/29/2009

Saying he has lost interest in pushing fhe case, Former Malacañang aide and administration senatorial candidate Michael Defensor is withdrawing the libel suit he had filed against National Broadband Network-ZTE “anomaly” whistle-blower Rodolfo “Jun” Lozada Jr.

In a letter dated May 27 and addressed to Judge Jorge Emmanuel Lorredo of the Manila Metropolitan Trial Court Branch 26, Defensor said he is “no longer interested in pursuing the present case.”

The former presidential chief of staff said that while he is “determined to seek relief for the criminal acts committed by Jun Lozada,” he feels that he “may not be able to obtain impartial justice.”

Lorredo, who had already dismissed the case against Lozada before Defensor elevated the case to the Court of Appeals in an order made subsequently public that his suit might only result in more embarrassment for the Arroyo administration.

“I am confident that, in the future, I will still be able to obtain justice. It is only unfortunate that just because of my presumed close relationship with the present administration my complaint was prejudged as a harassment suit, when, in fact, it is a plain, meritorious and legitimate action seeking relief for the wrong done upon me and my family,” Defensor said in his letter.

Defensor moreover claimed he had lost zeal to pursue the case after Lorredo had shown bias toward Lozada.

“Even a cursory reading of the orders issued by the court would expose the presiding judge’s bias in favor of the accused,” he said.

He said he will not be able to attend the hearings while his lawyers are preparing the documents necessary to cause the withdrawal of the complaint.
Earlier, Lorredo had also claimed that Malacañang was pressuring him to inhibit from the perjury case filed by Defensor, who now heads the board of the State-run Philippine National Railways.

In his order last May 4, Lorredo tried to persuade Defensor to withdraw the perjury case.

In a report, the judge also announced that he was inviting Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao, who has been given the title of “Ambassador of Peace” by Malacañang, to the perjury case’s pre-trial hearing.

“I’m calling on Pacquiao to go to my courtroom. I will allow him to talk to Mike Defensor and Jun Lozada,” Lorredo said, noting that the boxing icon, being an Ambassador of Peace, might be able to help him broker peace between the two.

According to the judge, he was having a hard time persuading Defensor to make peace with Lozada. He said one of the reasons for this difficulty was Malacañang’s conflicting position on the case.

Lorredo also said according to his friends, the Palace was planning to ask Pacquiao to humiliate him in public as part of the demolition job to force him to inhibit from the case.

http://www.tribune.net.ph/nation/20090529nat1.html