on february 11, upon continuation of senate hearings, the government denied on kidnapping lozada. lozada claimed he was driven around metro manila and even reached los baños, laguna, before he was transported to the la salle green hills seminary. according to denr secretary atienza, lozada, who is his boss as the philippine forest corp. is under the denr, asked for his help as "he feared for his life" as he returned from hong kong. joey de venecia later claimed that zte advanced us$1 million to abalos; senators pointed out that this qualifies as "plunder" under philippine criminal law since the advance was given when the foreign exchange was at about php 50 to $1, thus equaling the php 50 million floor for plunder.