BY GILBERT BAYORAN

THE trip of Senate star witness Rodolfo Noel Lozada today to Negros Occidental was not funded by the political opposition but by people who believe in his testimony, Bacolod Bishop Vicente Navarra said yesterday.

The bishop said Lozada has become a threat to some people in the government which he said is why they are trying to put him down by circulating reports that the opposition is behind his upcoming provincial sorties.

Navarra and more than 100 priests in the diocese of Bacolod have joined calls for the resignation of President Arroyo due to the controversy over the national broadband project awarded to the Chinese firm ZTE Corp.

Navarra justified the invitation of Lozada to speak to the youth in Bacolod City, saying he can be instrumental in arousing civic consciousness.

Lozada's itinerary includes speaking engagements at the University of St. La Salle, St. Scholastica Academy and La Consolacion College, addressing the mass-goers at the San Sebastian Cathedral, and dinner with the priests at the Diocesan Center.

Two days before Lozada's arrival, presidential deputy presidential spokesman Anthony Golez paid a visit to Negros Occidental.

Golez quashed speculations that he was in the province to cushion the effects of allegations of corruption that may be hurled against the administration.

Golez said he was in Silay City to help set up an incident command system at the Silay airport to cope with emergencies. He also said he met with local government officials on their requests for rubber rescue boats in his capacity as deputy administrator of the National Disaster Coordinating Council.