MANILA, Philippines -- Clenched fists raised in the air and the singing of the popular protest song “Bayan Ko” (My Country) marked the end of the mass offered at La Salle Greenhills for Rodolfo Noel Lozada Jr., the whistleblower in the allegedly anomalous national broadband network (NBN) project.
Former president Corazon Aquino, the political opposition, rosary-bearing nuns, civil society, and businessmen led the mass attended by what Mandaluyong deputy police chief, Superintendent Joveth Asayo, estimated to be 5,000 people, half of them filling the De La Salle Greenhills gymnasium to capacity, the rest following events inside on oversized projectors on the school grounds.
The school is just a few blocks from the EDSA shrine, the site of two nonviolent "people power" revolts that ousted the dictator Ferdinand Marcos, whom Aquino replaced, and Joseph Estrada, succeeded by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, herself now the subject of demands for resignation over corruption in her administration.
Overwhelmed by the groundswell of support for him, the whistleblower in the alleged graft-ridden national broadband deal, dared his countrymen to "be the change they want to see."
"I thank President Cory [Aquino’s nickname] because it was her idea to celebrate mass. Before, I thought I was alone, now, I know many have adopted me," he said, adding, "This is the biggest family day that I have been to."
Aquino said she will never grow tired of rallying the people against ills in government.
Speaking after the mass, Aquino said she was "praying" for President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, whose administration is beset with allegations of corruption, the latest of which is the NBN scandal.
But she refused to categorically state if she was joining calls for Arroyo’s resignation.
"My only prayer and the prayer of many others is for the truth to come out," said Aquino, wearing a yellow dress -- the popular color of her pro-democracy crusade. She wore a pin with a Philippine flag labeled "Jun Lozada, you're not alone."
Aquino said she was often asked if she ever grows tired of rallying the public.
"Wala akong choice, Pilipinas lang ang aking bayan [I have no choice, the Philippines is my only country]," she said.
"I want us Filipinos to unite," she said.
In her speech, Aquino likened the public support for Lozada to the support she got when her husband, former senator Benigno Aquino Jr. was assassinated in August 1983.
"When Ninoy was assassinated, had you not been there for me, you will not see me here. Because of the support that you have shown, I want us Filipinos to be united again," she said in Filipino.
Addressing the crowd, also after the mass, Lozada shared a prayer, which he said, "started [him] in this journey."
"Let me be the change I want to see, to do with strength and wisdom, all that needs to be done, and become the hope that I can be, set me free from my fears and hesitations, grant me courage and humility, fill me with spirit to face the challenge and start the change,"Lozada prayed, asking the crowd to listen closely to the words.
"Even if I'm not the light, I can be the spark -- in faith, service, and communion. Let us start the change we want to see, the change that begins with me," he said.
Lozada also took a swipe at the administration, saying he was at a loss for words when one of his children asked him why they were on the run if they were doing the right thing.
"Is this the lesson we want to teach our children? That will go in hiding if you do good? And if you lie and steal from public coffers, you are respected and enjoy good positions?" he said.
"Help me, as a Christian nation, let us teach our children the right thing…that if you do the right thing, you walk with your head up high," he said.
Lozada said that, when he decided to testify before the Senate, “I was just trying to save my soul. I didn’t know I’d save our country’s soul.”
Close to 60 former Cabinet officials from the Aquino, Ramos, Estrada, and Arroyo governments called on incumbent officials to "cut clean" and expose wrongdoings in government.
" We call on all those who can no longer endure this wrongful governance, with its structures of evil and unmoderated greed. It's time to cut clean. It's time to go. Tama na. Sobra na [Enough is enough. Now is the time]," they said in a statement read after the mass.
“We call on all government officials -- Cabinet secretaries, undersecretaries, heads of agencies -- who know about these anomalous transactions to join the heroic stand of Jun Lozada to come forward and speak out,” the statement said.
The former Cabinet executives also called on “all those who know about extrajudicial killings and disappearances to go public and tell the truth.”
Speaking of Arroyo, Teresita Quinto-Deles, former head of the National Anti-Poverty Commission, said: “We were hoping she’d be struck by lighting so she'd come to her senses, but that never happened.”
"We cannot see two more years [of this administration]. The people have lost hope that she [Arroyo] will be hit by lightning and be converted. It doesn't seem that it is ever going to happen," Deles told reporters.
Teresita Deles, who was also Arroyo’s adviser on the peace process, said Lozada's expose was "definitely a trigger" that brought protests against the administration to a "new level."
"For [ex-cabinet secretaries] to come out like this, and very strong, that's a very big thing. This really is too much," she said.
Deles said Arroyo's policy of "survival at all costs" has wrought damage to government institutions.
Vicente Romano, convenor of the anti-Arroyo civil society group Black and White Movement, christened the ex-Cabinet members the "La Salle 60."
Father Manoling Francisco from the Ateneo de Manila University led the concelebrated mass at the La Salle Greenhills, where Lozada and his family have sought sanctuary since he surfaced two weeks ago.
Among those at the mass were former vice president Teofisto Guingona, former Senate president Franklin Drilon, former House Speaker Jose De Venecia, former cabinet secretaries, Senators Benigno Aquino III and Manuel Roxas II, and Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim.
Also present was De Venecia's son, Jose III, who first exposed the alleged overprice of the $329-million contract between the government and China's ZTE Corp.
Arroyo's former finance secretary, Cesar Purisima, former finance secretary Roberto de Ocampo, former Central Bank governor Jose Cuisia, and Makati Business Club executive director Alberto Lim were also present.
Lozada Jr. is the former government consultant who exposed alleged large-scale bribery in the $329-million NBN contract awarded to China’s ZTE Corp., which was scrapped after the Senate began its inquiry into the scandal-tainted deal.
He has accused former Commission on Elections chairman Benjamin Abalos Sr. of demanding a huge kickback from the deal and also alleged that Arroyo's husband, Jose Miguel, took part in backroom negotiations for the contract.
Both men have denied the allegations, and ZTE has denied bribing Philippine officials. The Chinese firm has also refused to cooperate with the Senate inquiry, which it branded a “political circus.”
Opposition senators also want to know if Arroyo herself committed any wrongdoing in the deal but former socioeconomic planning secretary Romulo Neri, who has said Abalos offered him a bribe, has refused to testify before the Senate about his closed-door talks with Arroyo about the controversial project.
On Friday, during a protest rally in Makati City to demand Arroyo’s resignation, De Venecia III directly linked Arroyo to the kickbacks, saying she, her husband, Abalos and their “cabal” stood to gain P10 billion had the NBN deal pushed through.
Lozada has also alleged that government security men held him briefly as he arrived from a foreign trip, apparently to prevent him from testifying, prompting him to decide to seek Senate protection and testify. Police have denied the allegation.
Political tensions heightened after Lozada emerged two weeks ago, weeping and looking scared on nationwide TV as he made the allegations.
As public outrage over the allegations grew, military officials last week hastily made public a number of supposed security threats, including alleged assassination plots against Arroyo by Al-Qaeda-linked militants and communist rebels. They brought in additional tanks and troops to the capital, where fresh coup rumors have also spread.
The opposition dismissed the alleged plot as a means to scare the public from joining anti-Arroyo protests.
Arroyo has survived three opposition impeachment bids and four attempted power grabs, mainly because of support from loyal generals and a formidable political coalition during her seven tumultuous years in power.
Former president Corazon Aquino, the political opposition, rosary-bearing nuns, civil society, and businessmen led the mass attended by what Mandaluyong deputy police chief, Superintendent Joveth Asayo, estimated to be 5,000 people, half of them filling the De La Salle Greenhills gymnasium to capacity, the rest following events inside on oversized projectors on the school grounds.
The school is just a few blocks from the EDSA shrine, the site of two nonviolent "people power" revolts that ousted the dictator Ferdinand Marcos, whom Aquino replaced, and Joseph Estrada, succeeded by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, herself now the subject of demands for resignation over corruption in her administration.
Overwhelmed by the groundswell of support for him, the whistleblower in the alleged graft-ridden national broadband deal, dared his countrymen to "be the change they want to see."
"I thank President Cory [Aquino’s nickname] because it was her idea to celebrate mass. Before, I thought I was alone, now, I know many have adopted me," he said, adding, "This is the biggest family day that I have been to."
Aquino said she will never grow tired of rallying the people against ills in government.
Speaking after the mass, Aquino said she was "praying" for President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, whose administration is beset with allegations of corruption, the latest of which is the NBN scandal.
But she refused to categorically state if she was joining calls for Arroyo’s resignation.
"My only prayer and the prayer of many others is for the truth to come out," said Aquino, wearing a yellow dress -- the popular color of her pro-democracy crusade. She wore a pin with a Philippine flag labeled "Jun Lozada, you're not alone."
Aquino said she was often asked if she ever grows tired of rallying the public.
"Wala akong choice, Pilipinas lang ang aking bayan [I have no choice, the Philippines is my only country]," she said.
"I want us Filipinos to unite," she said.
In her speech, Aquino likened the public support for Lozada to the support she got when her husband, former senator Benigno Aquino Jr. was assassinated in August 1983.
"When Ninoy was assassinated, had you not been there for me, you will not see me here. Because of the support that you have shown, I want us Filipinos to be united again," she said in Filipino.
Addressing the crowd, also after the mass, Lozada shared a prayer, which he said, "started [him] in this journey."
"Let me be the change I want to see, to do with strength and wisdom, all that needs to be done, and become the hope that I can be, set me free from my fears and hesitations, grant me courage and humility, fill me with spirit to face the challenge and start the change,"Lozada prayed, asking the crowd to listen closely to the words.
"Even if I'm not the light, I can be the spark -- in faith, service, and communion. Let us start the change we want to see, the change that begins with me," he said.
Lozada also took a swipe at the administration, saying he was at a loss for words when one of his children asked him why they were on the run if they were doing the right thing.
"Is this the lesson we want to teach our children? That will go in hiding if you do good? And if you lie and steal from public coffers, you are respected and enjoy good positions?" he said.
"Help me, as a Christian nation, let us teach our children the right thing…that if you do the right thing, you walk with your head up high," he said.
Lozada said that, when he decided to testify before the Senate, “I was just trying to save my soul. I didn’t know I’d save our country’s soul.”
Close to 60 former Cabinet officials from the Aquino, Ramos, Estrada, and Arroyo governments called on incumbent officials to "cut clean" and expose wrongdoings in government.
" We call on all those who can no longer endure this wrongful governance, with its structures of evil and unmoderated greed. It's time to cut clean. It's time to go. Tama na. Sobra na [Enough is enough. Now is the time]," they said in a statement read after the mass.
“We call on all government officials -- Cabinet secretaries, undersecretaries, heads of agencies -- who know about these anomalous transactions to join the heroic stand of Jun Lozada to come forward and speak out,” the statement said.
The former Cabinet executives also called on “all those who know about extrajudicial killings and disappearances to go public and tell the truth.”
Speaking of Arroyo, Teresita Quinto-Deles, former head of the National Anti-Poverty Commission, said: “We were hoping she’d be struck by lighting so she'd come to her senses, but that never happened.”
"We cannot see two more years [of this administration]. The people have lost hope that she [Arroyo] will be hit by lightning and be converted. It doesn't seem that it is ever going to happen," Deles told reporters.
Teresita Deles, who was also Arroyo’s adviser on the peace process, said Lozada's expose was "definitely a trigger" that brought protests against the administration to a "new level."
"For [ex-cabinet secretaries] to come out like this, and very strong, that's a very big thing. This really is too much," she said.
Deles said Arroyo's policy of "survival at all costs" has wrought damage to government institutions.
Vicente Romano, convenor of the anti-Arroyo civil society group Black and White Movement, christened the ex-Cabinet members the "La Salle 60."
Father Manoling Francisco from the Ateneo de Manila University led the concelebrated mass at the La Salle Greenhills, where Lozada and his family have sought sanctuary since he surfaced two weeks ago.
Among those at the mass were former vice president Teofisto Guingona, former Senate president Franklin Drilon, former House Speaker Jose De Venecia, former cabinet secretaries, Senators Benigno Aquino III and Manuel Roxas II, and Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim.
Also present was De Venecia's son, Jose III, who first exposed the alleged overprice of the $329-million contract between the government and China's ZTE Corp.
Arroyo's former finance secretary, Cesar Purisima, former finance secretary Roberto de Ocampo, former Central Bank governor Jose Cuisia, and Makati Business Club executive director Alberto Lim were also present.
Lozada Jr. is the former government consultant who exposed alleged large-scale bribery in the $329-million NBN contract awarded to China’s ZTE Corp., which was scrapped after the Senate began its inquiry into the scandal-tainted deal.
He has accused former Commission on Elections chairman Benjamin Abalos Sr. of demanding a huge kickback from the deal and also alleged that Arroyo's husband, Jose Miguel, took part in backroom negotiations for the contract.
Both men have denied the allegations, and ZTE has denied bribing Philippine officials. The Chinese firm has also refused to cooperate with the Senate inquiry, which it branded a “political circus.”
Opposition senators also want to know if Arroyo herself committed any wrongdoing in the deal but former socioeconomic planning secretary Romulo Neri, who has said Abalos offered him a bribe, has refused to testify before the Senate about his closed-door talks with Arroyo about the controversial project.
On Friday, during a protest rally in Makati City to demand Arroyo’s resignation, De Venecia III directly linked Arroyo to the kickbacks, saying she, her husband, Abalos and their “cabal” stood to gain P10 billion had the NBN deal pushed through.
Lozada has also alleged that government security men held him briefly as he arrived from a foreign trip, apparently to prevent him from testifying, prompting him to decide to seek Senate protection and testify. Police have denied the allegation.
Political tensions heightened after Lozada emerged two weeks ago, weeping and looking scared on nationwide TV as he made the allegations.
As public outrage over the allegations grew, military officials last week hastily made public a number of supposed security threats, including alleged assassination plots against Arroyo by Al-Qaeda-linked militants and communist rebels. They brought in additional tanks and troops to the capital, where fresh coup rumors have also spread.
The opposition dismissed the alleged plot as a means to scare the public from joining anti-Arroyo protests.
Arroyo has survived three opposition impeachment bids and four attempted power grabs, mainly because of support from loyal generals and a formidable political coalition during her seven tumultuous years in power.
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