For allowing his son and namesake to expose the corruption in the highest levels of this government, Jose De Venecia Jr. was removed from his post as Speaker of the House in one of the most brutal political assassinations in the history of this country's legislature.

For having the balls to return to the country after the government cooked up an excuse for him to leave, his departure coinciding with a scheduled appearance at the Senate inquiry into the stinking scandal known as the NBN deal, Rodolfo “Jun” Lozada Jr., was intercepted at the airport by men backed by individuals powerful enough to have him skip immigration procedures and park their cars at the tarmac of the airport so they could whisk him away before the people sent by the Office of the Senate Sergeant at Arms could get their hands on him.

That is the fate that awaits enemies of this state. During this week alone, we have been witness to the awesome power of the state, one that ceased to be of the people, by the people, and for the people the minute it started suppressing the truth and sabotaging the efforts of a co-equal branch of government from discharging its functions. The people who wield this awesome power insult the intelligence of the Filipino people by playing dumb, insisting that they did not have a hand in the ouster of JDV nor in the abduction of Jun Lozada from a government-secured installation.

How can we believe all these flimsy excuses when it is obvious from the start who is behind all these sinister moves?

Who will argue that the sons of the President did not remove De Venecia from office? It is obvious that Prospero Nograles sits as the new Speaker of the House only because as sons of the President, it would be improper for Mikey and Dato Arroyo to become the official replacement of the man whose ouster they apparnetly engineered. But after this display of power, punctuated by the willingness of the 174 congressmen who voted to remove JDV to bend to the will of the first family, we all know who the real speakers of the house are.

Even if the new guy, Prospero Nograles, is indeed a better option than JDV, is indeed a man of his own mind and not a lapdog. The man who can be given the benefit of the doubt as he promises the country a new and better leadership in Congress is already saddled with the burden of seeing just how easy it is for the family in power to dispose of those who do not kowtow to their demands. If he truly wants to serve the country, the 90 million Filipinos, and not just the select few who run it, Mr. Nograles has his work cut out for him.

As for the witness who disappeared from the airport, how can we not link his disappearance (or abduction) to government agents when he did not even make it to immigration and customs? When the airport's security chief himself is involved, but refuses to give details on the disappearance of a person wanted by the Senate, and allows Jun Lozada and his “escorts” to exit the terminal through the service area and the tarmac, who else can be involved? Certainly not the Senate because they are the ones who were left waiting for nothing. Certainly not the Judiciary because it has nothing to do with this. That leaves only the executive branch, the one that has the most to lose and the most to hide.

The following day, the PNP admits that they were the ones who have taken Lozada, and insist that the snatch-and-grab act was done by the request of Lozada's family. Then why is it that his wife had to go to the Supreme Court to ask for a writ of habeas corpus, which would compel the police to bring him to court and set him free? Someone is obviously lying, and someone up there is obviously allowing those liars to get away with anything short of murder, as long as this crucial witness can be kept from the public and his family, probably for “processing” until he recants, or stays missing, or his body turns up in a vacant lot somewhere.

Fortunately, the intense media pressure and the uncooperative wife of Lozada forced the hand of the people who took him and they turned him over to La Salle Greenhills, where he was reunited with his family, where in an emotional and tearful press conference, he contradicted the fantastic claims of the government, all the way up to Malacañang, that he asked for police protection. They may have signed documents, but one look at a grown man in tears recounting his ordeal with total strangers makes those documents as dubious as the NBN deal itself.

If there is really nothing to hide, then why are key witnesses disappearing? Jocjoc and Garci disappeared also, but they wanted to, and their willingness to make themselves scarce got them the protection of some very powerful people. By reappearing, Jun Lozada may just be the hero this country, and the truth, has been sorely waiting for. If the missing witnesses are really seeking government protection, then why is his family worried? If JDV was truly ousted by his peers, without the influence or pressure from Malacañang, then either the timing of these congressmen must truly suck or they must want the occupant of the Palace and her family to look really bad. If the NBN scandal is truly above board, and its cancellation was the simple solution to the problem, then why does it continue to haunt the Arroyo administration?

*I started this article on Tuesday, right after the “abduction” was reported in newspapers, and submitted it Friday noontime, after reading the morning papers. It had to be revised continuously so forgive the ramble.