By Ephraim Aguilar and Jaymee T. Gamil
Inquirer Southern Luzon
LIGAO CITY--A TRICYCLE DRIVER AND sari-sari store owner in Barangay Tinago here would have preferred to remain obscure, especially because his brother, Rodolfo Noel “Jun” Lozada Jr., became a star witness in the scrapped $329-million National Broadband Network (NBN) deal.
On Monday, when his brother appeared on national television for his second appearance at the Senate hearing on the controversial deal, Samson Lozada, 55, said he was moved to tears every time his younger brother cried at the hearing.
Crying at the drop of...
“As a child Jun would cry when we hid his things, when we played jokes on him, or when he lost in our childhood games,” Samson said.
He said he was proud that his brother was exposing the truth. “We could only pray for his safety,’’ he said.
He said it was up to the public to judge his brother. “But one thing I am sure of, we were not raised to become liars,” Samson said.
He expressed the hope that people would be moved by his brother’s revelations.
He described his younger brother as very kind and helpful.
“He was a simple and silent boy,” said Samson, the oldest son and the fifth among the 13 children of Eusebia, now 84 years old, and the late Rodolfo Lozada Sr.
Chinese school in Legazpi
Samson said Jun grew up with the family in Ligao and studied in grade school at Chong Hua, a Chinese school in Legazpi City.
“He was a simple guy in school. He was never boastful and he did not fight anyone, not even his siblings,” Samson said.
He said Jun’s daily life during his childhood revolved around school and the house. “After classes he went home. He carefully chose his friends,” he said.
Samson said he never knew about his brother’s involvement in the controversial deal until he surfaced at a press conference last week.
“The last time we saw each other was last Christmas when one of our siblings died. He would also come home (here in Ligao City) during family occasions but he never mentioned anything about the issue,” he said.
Samson said the family worried about Jun’s safety and feared he might suffer the fate of their sixth sibling, who was killed by policemen due to mistaken identity.
Samson described the Lozadas as closely knit. “We were one family. We were properly raised by our parents. We enjoyed a simple life,” he said.
Drug store
The Lozadas own a drug store and a grocery near City Hall.
“They are good and religious people who are very private. They never got involved in local politics even if they were well-off,” said a public school teacher at the Ligao West Central School, who claimed to be a distant relative of the Lozadas’ but declined to be named.
To the left of City Hall stands a chain of small convenience stores, one of which is said to be managed and named after one of Lozada’s aunts, Paz Imperial.
On Friday afternoon, when Lozada made his first appearance in the Senate, it was evident that the staff of the store was uneasy when queried by reporters about the whereabouts of Lozada’s immediate family.
Mum’s the word
Asked about the Imperial family, they gestured toward an elderly woman at the cash register, who they reluctantly identified as the store owner’s sister and one of Lozada’s aunts.
The chinky-eyed, gray-haired woman curtly gave her name: Lydia.
But when asked if she really was a relative of Lozada’s or if she was familiar with him, she meekly replied in Bicol: “I don’t know’’ and “I don’t know anything about that.’’ All the while she avoided eye contact.
Asked where her sister Paz Imperial was, she said in Bicol: “She is sick.” A salesgirl confirmed this, saying: “She is asleep upstairs.” Both of them, however, refused to have Paz talk to anyone.
Asked where her other relatives were, the elderly woman would reiterate her previous replies, or just shrug and shake her head nonchalantly.
When prodded about Lozada, she would stare at the television set showing a noontime program, and refuse to acknowledge the questions.
She, nevertheless, accommodated customers alertly.
At the mayor’s office, the younger staff could not offer information about Lozada either.
“We heard that Lozada was from around here, but we’re not really familiar with him or his family,” one of them said.
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