MANILA, Philippines -- My column three weeks ago on telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth seems to have touched some raw nerves. I used some statements of Philippine National Police chief Avelino Razon and Rodolfo Noel ?Jun? Lozada Jr. as examples of telling the truth, but not the whole truth (i.e., half-truths), and of embellishing the truth. No one came to the defense of Razon, but I received some very nasty texts excoriating me for not believing Lozada; and this newspaper printed a couple of letters from readers who essentially claimed that Lozada?s statements were as pure as the driven snow.

What is more, Lozada himself, in a subsequent hearing on Feb. 18, after my column came out, also said, as part of his responses to the questions of Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, that he never told any half-truths.

Let?s settle the issue.

At the time I wrote the Feb. 16 column, I said that I did not have the benefit of the transcripts of either the hearings or interviews relevant to the Lozada statements I was adverting to. But now these are with me, and I will quote them verbatim, so the readers can judge for themselves.

(Transcript of Blue Ribbon Committee Hearings on Feb. 11, 2008, 5:10 p.m. Lozada responding to Senator Arroyo)

?Puwede ko na hong ituloy, Senator, para hindi ko makalimutan ?yung ano ninyo ?.Tapos po kung ang sabi ninyo na bad faith ?yung kinausap ko si Senator Lacson, nakausap ko rin ?yung asawa ninyo sa bahay ninyo. Dinala po ako ni Tony Abaya. So patas. Opo. Pinatawag ninyo po ako roon sa bahay ninyo.? [?May I continue, Senator, so I won?t forget .?You said that it was bad faith that I spoke to Senator Lacson, I also spoke to your wife in your house. I was brought there by Tony Abaya. So that is even. Yes sir. You called me to your house.]

?Sabi pinupunto ko lang po ?yung good faith, bad faith na hindi po ako selective sa kinakausap ko na on both sides po may mga taong gusto sa aking kumausap, sino naman po ako para tumanggi? So pasensiya na po kayo.? [?I am only pointing out, sir, with respect to your good faith, bad faith, that I am not selective about speaking to both sides, sir, there are people who want to talk to me, who am I sir, to refuse them??]

Here?s the transcript of his interview with Korina Sanchez, aired after Feb. 11:

?KORINA: Joker Arroyo ? he said you don?t have any documents to prove ? did you go to the house of Joker Arroyo?

?LOZADA: No, they invited me to go to their home in Dasmariñas Village and at the end of the meeting Ms Arroyo told me not to appear, not to speak in the Senate anymore.?

These statements of Lozada at the Senate hearings on Feb. 11 and on Korina?s show were the subject of my Feb. 16 column. It was only after that column came out that he backpedaled. Here is the transcript of what he said in his response to the questions of Sen. Jinggoy Estrada on Feb 18:

?Then siguro ito na rin po ang pagkakataon para malinaw ko ?yung column ni Gng. Monsod na sinasabi niya na I am telling half-truths. Never ko pong sinabi na Fely Arroyo invited me. It was Tony Abaya who asked me to go to the place of Senator Arroyo to meet with Fely Arroyo. Hindi ko po sinabi na inimbita ako ni Fely Arroyo. Nung last year pa po ?yun.? (Rough translation: This is my chance to clarify the column of Ms Monsod who said I am telling half-truths. I never said that Fely Arroyo invited me. It was Tony Abaya who asked me to go to the place of Senator Arroyo to meet with Fely Arroyo. I did not say that Fely Arroyo invited me. This was last year.)

He also confirmed that the letter of Tony Abaya to the Blue Ribbon Committee describing the circumstances leading up to the visit to Fely Arroyo as well as her legal advise was correct. But the reader will have to agree, based on these transcripts, that what he said on Feb. 18 is the opposite of what he told the Senate on Feb. 11 and what he said to Korina Sanchez.

To summarize: From the transcripts, Lozada gave the impression that Fely Arroyo?s role was partisan in nature and that he was giving both her and Sen. Panfilo Lacson a chance to talk to him?that he was not being ?selective.? The impression is not true. Fely Arroyo was not engaging in any partisan political activity. She was giving the legal advice that he and Abaya had sought. Furthermore, he met with Ms Arroyo only once, for all of half an hour, while he met with Senator Lacson six times (this, from Senator Lacson; Lozada said that he could not remember how many meetings took place).

One also gets the impression (until Lozada recanted it) that Fely Arroyo not only invited him, but told him not to appear in the Senate. What actually transpired is that Fely Arroyo told him that, since he was neither invited nor subpoenaed nor served a warrant of arrest, he was under no compulsion to go to the Senate.

Finally, the impression that he gave was that the meeting with Fely Arroyo occurred at about the same time as his meetings with Senator Lacson. He met with Fely Arroyo in September. His meetings with Lacson occurred later.

Conclusion: Of course he was telling half-truths, and embellishing the truth. He changed his story only when he was confronted with the whole truth.

Unfortunately, there was ?collateral damage.? After that Feb. 11 Senate hearing and the airing of the Korina interview, Senator Arroyo and lawyer Fely Arroyo were subjects of vicious attacks, even as Lozada claimed that he had the highest respect and admiration for the senator. With that kind of admirer, Joker needs no enemies.