CA excludes Lozada from hearing

THE Court of Appeals yesterday excluded ZTE star witness Rodolfo Noel Lozada Jr. from the hearing on the petition of writ of amparo filed by his family to make sure he will not tailor his testimony to fit theirs.

The CA 17th Division cited provisions of the rules on exclusion of witnesses under which a witness cannot be present when another witness is about to give his testimony to the court so that he can not alter or adjust his testimony.

Assistant solicitor general Amparo Tang argued that since Lozada was not scheduled to testify, he should be excluded so that he will not hear the testimonies of the other witnesses and give "biased" testimony when he takes the stand during the next hearing.

Edwin Lacierda, Lozada's lawyer, objected and argued that his client should be present as he is the subject of the petition for the writ of amparo.

He said the rule does not apply to his client because Lozada was the aggrieved subject of the petition and was a co-petitioner in the suit.

Carmen Lozada, in her testimony, said that the threat on Lozada and their family is continuing, despite the Senate's blanket of protection.

Carmen said that while Lozada was able to attend a caucus at the De La Salle University in Manila, the family continued to receive text messages and calls from an unidentified male caller that there is a P10 million bounty on his head.

The threats, she said, reached even their brother in Ligao, Albay.

"We want a temporary protection order from the court itself because its the matter we're invoking under the amparo and it's a new writ directly promulgated by the Supreme Court so we'd like to avail of such protection. The Senate inquiry is not going to be long," said Lacierda.

Deputy presidential spokeswoman Lorelei Fajardo said the Palace legal team is studying counter charges against Lozada.

Fajardo said government wants to put the issue to rest because it has already caused so much confusion.

She cautioned parents of students where Lozada is conducting his "Search for Truth" caravan not to allow their children to be swayed by his speeches.

She said the directive of Education Secretary Jesli Lapus not to entertain political activities in public schools is just a reiteration of a directive last year regarding inviting guests for commencement exercises.