Half a million pesos that was equal to more than ten month’s gross salary of either Lozada or Gaite…

According to Gaite, he happened to have the money because it was actually a pool of funds culled from his sister-in-law and an uncle, money intended to be used for the repair of his father-in-law’s house. Let’s go over that again: Gaite was taking money from his uncle – a Gaite – to use for the repair of his father-in-law’s house.

Here’s more. Under questioning from a number of senators, Gaite admitted that he had only met Lozada twice…but on the basis of a text, Gaite was moved by Lozada’s plight to offer the P500,000 meant for the repair of the house of his in-laws. An amount, we must remember, that Gaite had borrowed from an uncle.

And then, when asked by Senator Pangilinan how much was the next biggest monetary assistance he had ever offered before, Gaite admitted that the largest amount he had ever offered before in assistance was P10,000.

Ten thousand pesos that was equal to about one-fourth of the salary of Gaite.

And why did Gaite act so generously? Because, he told the senators, he was moved by his faith and conscience to help someone in need. Faith and conscience?

Over and over again, Gaite was telling the senators he was under the impression that Lozada was abroad, in London in fact. But why was Lozada abroad? To avoid appearing before the Senate where he was going to be asked about the NBN-ZTE deal, and where Lozada over and over claimed he may not be able to keep from telling the truth.

Let’s go over that again. Here was Manny Gaite saying he was moved by his faith and conscience to help Lozada who he thought was freezing in London. Faith and conscience. But where was Gaite’s faith and conscience with respect to the idea of being part of a scheme to hide Lozada abroad to keep him from spilling the beans – the truth, mind you – before the Senate?

It appears that Gaite’s profession of faith and conscience is a very selective profession. Can we conclude otherwise?

But let’s leave Gaite for a while and shift to another generous individual, Mike "Tol" Defensor.

Mike was actually the first generous administration ally who was exposed in the Senate. Mike – or should we be friendly and call him "Tol" – had given Jun Lozada P50,000 as "pang-grocery". But "Tol" wasn’t that stingy, because he had actually offered Lozada more –"there was more money in the car" (I seem to remember him having said) if Lozada needed it.

But the generosity doesn’t end with Defensor and Gaite.

Last Monday, skipping the traditional People Power rites at the People Power Monument on Edsa, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo visited Caloocan and Cavite with gifts to her people. In Caloocan she gave away ATM cards that are to be funded with P500 – that’s five hundred pesos – per family per month for the balance of her term. (Of course I understand the "balance of her term" to mean between now and June 2010.)

In Cavite, on the other hand, the President spoke about infrastructure projects including a coastal highway that she says was launched by four presidents but would only be completed under her term.

Why was money being offered so generously to Rodolfo Noel "Jun" Lozada? What made Lozada so special that Defensor would order his wife to dig into her bag and fish out P50,000, and would move Gaite to offer Lozada half a million pesos meant for the repair of his in-law’s’ house?

And why was the President being generous with her ATM cards and infrastructure projects?

Where all of these related? Were all of these part of a cover-up – as was the flight of Jun Lozada to Hong Kong and then supposedly to London – designed to keep Lozada from telling the truth?

Or are we just blessed with such a generous bunch of people in government and allied with it that, indeed, we the Filipino people will be mocked if a new People Power movement were to oust the present occupants of Malacañang Palace?