Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 2) – NBN-ZTE Deal whistleblower Jun Lozada and his brother Orlando have surrendered to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on Thursday, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra confirmed.
The Lozada brothers turned themselves over to the NBI after the Supreme Court (SC) affirmed their conviction in a graft case in 2016.
The case stemmed from Jun’s partiality in awarding over 6.599 hectares of public land to Orlando, which he did in his capacity as the president and chief executive officer of state-owned firm Philippine Forest Corporation, back in 2007.
In August 2016, the SC sentenced the Lozada brothers to a penalty of minimum imprisonment of six years and one month and maximum imprisonment of 10 years and one day.
Guevarra added Jun and Orlando will eventually be transferred to the New Bilibid Prison for their jail time, but did not give any exact date when they will be imprisoned.
“It depends on the order of commitment issued by the court. Unfortunately, I have no copy of such order,” said Guevarra.
Jun is the whistleblower to the botched national broadband network deal during the administration of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, where he accused several government officials of pocketing millions of pesos worth of money from the agreement with Chinese company ZTE Corporation.
The court eventually acquitted the officials implicated by Lozada, including Arroyo and former Commission on Elections chairman Benjamin Abalos Sr.
