Why would Lozada be peddling lies? Maybe because of a deal gone wrong, or a disagreement on the sharing of the "loot"? Frankly, his possible motivation has not been made clear to us. But we are made to believe that the Lozada tales – tall tales, mind you – are now part and parcel of a bigger story, the continuing attempt to cast doubt on the legitimacy of the government of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo which includes attempts to revive issues that are already old, dead and buried.

Unfortunately, the public does not seem to buy this line from Malacañang. He is the wrong Lozada – much thinner, for one – than the Lozada who was into the entertainment scene. And even if Rodolfo Noel’s nickname had been Ike, we must remember that it was not Ike but Kuya Germs who was – still is, I believe – owner of the honorific "Master Showman".

Nope, I don’t think the public believes Jun Lozada is a showman, much less a master showman. I believe that what the public believes is that Lozada is one guy – albeit not as pure as a saint – who finally has found the guts to tell the truth because keeping the truth hidden and hiding behind lie after lie has become too hard to do. When so many people still find it convenient to be part of a show – a show of smoke and mirrors – Lozada opted out. And despite all the hardship he has had to bear for that choice – like feeling the whole weight of government upon you – he has chosen to stay the course.

That’s not master showmanship in the eyes of many of his countrymen. That’s master patriotism.

I was one of the millions who watched Lozada in the "Harapan" program that ABS-CBN set up two night ago, and while I thought the format was a bit odd, I also thought it worked to Lozada’s advantage.

Like most of those who became guests on the show I expected the program to simply be a face to face confrontation between Lozada and former Comelec chief Benjamin Abalos. But it turned out to be a 1-vs-3 or 4 for 2/3 of the program, specially when arrayed against Lozada were Abalos, PNP chief Avelino Razon, Malacañang deputy spokesman Dr. Tony Golez, and DOTC Assistant Secretary Lorenzo Formoso.

I thought that stacked the deck against Lozada, who had to face so many individuals out to call him a liar, but somehow not only did he survive – he seemed to have gotten the better of most of the administration’s people, most of all Abalos.

It also didn’t help Abalos’ case that he came with a lawyer, and a handful of documents that became convenient when he didn’t want to directly answer the question posed. Such as this, from Korina Sanchez: Are you gentlemen willing to undergo a lie detector test?

Lozada grudgingly agreed, saying he would do so if that is what it took to write finis to all of these; Abalos not only evaded the question, he was even heard off-cam inquiring in Filipino, "that isn’t admissible in court, is it?".

Last Sunday, surveying all of those who had gathered at the gym at La Salle Greenhills, I could not escape the feeling that that off-course drift is slowly coming to an end. The people who gathered for the mass for Jun Lozada were from all walks of life: Cory and members of her Cabinet; priests and nuns and scholastics; fathers and mothers and brothers and sisters; there was even a brave young man sitting in a wheelchair and attached to some breathing apparatus. There was applause at certain parts of the homily; even bigger applause earlier when first Cory, then Joey de Venecia, and finally Jun Lozada entered the gym. And not many eyebrows from my friends in the Left were raised when the congregation broke out into "Bayan Ko" accompanied by raised fists – a sight once only limited to rallies by the students of UP but now apparently part and parcel of even the rallies and prayers of the upper strata of society.

Were all of these possible because Jun Lozada is, as the Palace insists, a "master showman"? Or were these happening because of Jun Lozada, a mere mortal who had preferred to run away but whom circumstances had been forced to own up to the truth?

In my own assessment, all of these would not be happening today if Palace officials had not mishandled the case of Jun Lozada – from the time they conspired to have him leave for Hong Kong to avoid appearing before the Senate, to the time they compounded this mistake with that confused kidnapping-cum-protection caper upon his arrival.

Or maybe we should in fact look further back to be more accurate: all of these would not be happening today if only there was no past to come back to haunt the residents of the Palace – because more and more it appears undeniable that the whole Lozada-ZTE-Abalos-FG caper is linked to the GMA-Garci-Abalos-2004 elections caper, which in turn is linked to the Erap-Chavit-Edsa 2 caper that swept GMA into office. The bottom line is this: GMA wouldn’t be in the dire straits she is in today if she only had stuck to the values and principles she had enunciated that heady noon when she took her oath of office as president of the Philippines.

A simple re-read of her 2001 inaugural address will make it stark how far off course she had drifted, bringing along the rest of us with her.

That is, until Jun Lozada created a break in the cycle of lies and deception that seems to have enveloped this administration from the very first day of its existence.