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FORMER
Commission on Elections chairman Benjamin Abalos Sr. on
Thursday belied the claims of Senate witness Rodolfo
Noel Lozada Jr. that he was threatened by the former.
Abalos revealed records from Wack-Wack Golf and Country
Club showing that the latter still frequented the place
afterward.
A
document provided by Abalos’s camp showed Lozada’s
alleged activities at the Wack-Wack Golf and Country
Club days and months after January 18, 2007, when he was
reportedly threatened by Abalos.
The
document is actually a billing statement of Lozada with
account number 001474, which carries an outstanding
balance of P34,225, with a due date of February 29,
2008.
“If that
[death threat] was true, how come Lozada freely plays
golf at Wack- Wack, roams the premises without police
security? The number of times he [Lozada] goes to
Mandaluyong belies his claims,” said Abalos, a director
and the immediate past president of Wack-Wack.
The
document also showed that Lozada took dinner within the
areas of the country club, especially having meals at
Ben’s Diner—a food outlet owned by the daughter of
Abalos.
The last
time Lozada visited the Wack-Wack Golf was on January
13, 2008, where, according to the documents, he visited
the Tee House—a minicanteen where golfers get their
refreshments.
“If it
were true that I have been threatening him, why does he
exercise such liberty in going to Wack-Wack. What is
even more intriguing is why it took a Senate hearing for
him to announce the alleged threat to his life? Is it
not natural to report such threats to the police at the
soonest [time] possible?” Abalos asked.
Abalos
also disputed the claim of Lozada that he was just a
poor Chinese-Filipino.
“If it
were true, then he has single-handedly changed the
definition of what it is to be poor—a man who plays golf
almost every week and who owns imported goats and who
has the capability to sell a piece of property only to
buy it back through his own corporation,” he said.
“Nakapagtataka,
hindi ba? Sa pagkaka-alam ko, upang maging
kapani-paniwala ang isang salita, dapat kapani-paniwala
rin ang nagsasabi nito. Kung ganitong paiba-iba ang
sinasabi ni Lozada, hindi tumutugon sa kung ano talaga
ang nangyari, paano nila nasasabi na tama ang sinasabi
niya [Surprising, isn’t it? For a claim to be deemed
truthful, then all his statements must be consistent.
But if
he keeps changing them or they are not corroborated, how
can he be believable]. Lozada is even hailed as a hero.
Is that right?” Abalos lamented.
Earlier
Lozada claimed that on January 18, 2007, while he was in
Dumaguete City, Abalos called him on the phone and asked
him if he knew that the then Comelec chief was close to
the military.
“Chairman Abalos called me up, like early evening, and
asked me questions like, ‘Alam ba ni Neri yung
ginagawa mo, [I said] Opo. Alam mo bang malapit
ako sa military? Opo. Alam mong malapit ako sa
intelligence. Opo, [Does Neri know what you’re
doing? I said yes. Do you know I’m close to the
military? I said yes. Do you know I’m close to
intelligence? I said yes],” Lozada told senators last
Monday.
He went
on: “And then he [Abalos] started cursing.” Lozada said,
in Filipino, that Abalos kept cursing him and told him
he had with him a CD of all phone conversations between
Lozada and Joey de Venecia III, and that Abalos called
them “animals” out to “betray” him.
Lozada
also said Abalos told him to avoid Mandaluyong City,
because he would be killed there.
“Then
Chairman Abalos ended up…his words” in Filipino, with,
“Don’t ever show up in Wack-Wack or Mandaluyong or I’ll
have you killed.”
Abalos,
in debunking the claims said that if what Lozada claims
is true, then the former environment official should
have avoided going to Wack-Wack.
“He
[referring to Lozada] said that I threatened to kill
him. But I often see him at Wack-Wack where I usually
go. And the records at the golf club show Lozada did
frequent visits at the said place and has monthly
billings covering golf activities and shopping,” he
said. |
