President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Tuesday downplayed allegations linking House Speaker Martin Romualdez to corruption claims raised during a Senate hearing, saying public officials frequently fall victim to name-dropping.
During the inquiry on the anomalous flood control projects, Curlee Discaya mentioned Romualdez’s name in connection with Quezon City fourth district Rep. Marvin Rillo, though Discaya clarified that the Speaker was not directly implicated in the supposed irregularities.
President Marcos, asked about his reaction, said high-ranking officials are often dragged into controversies without their knowledge.
“You know, we all suffer from that, they’ll say ‘order of the President,’ ‘order of the Secretary,’ when it’s not even true,” President Marcos told reporters. “All of us in high office suffer from that. People have to be more careful and not too gullible,” he added.
The president explained that public figures are frequently misrepresented, citing instances where individuals use photos with him to feign closeness.
He said the government must distinguish between mere name-dropping and actual wrongdoing.
“Name-dropping is not a crime,” the president said. “But what is a crime is that you use someone else’s name to steal. That’s thievery. That’s stealing. That’s corruption,” he added.
Mr. Marcos said authorities will verify if the allegations raised in the Senate were substantiated or simply based on rumors.
“If it’s true, then it’s true,” he said. “If it’s just hearsay, just speculation, well, we will also show that it’s just speculation.”
The Senate has been holding hearings into alleged anomalies in flood control projects, part of a broader scrutiny into corruption in public works and infrastructure spending.
