A demolition job was launched against former Speaker Martin Romualdez ahead of his scheduled appearance before the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) today (Tuesday), Deputy Speaker and Antipolo City Rep. Ronaldo Puno said yesterday.
“I think the timing is sad because the former Speaker is going to speak before the Independent Commission. It appears there’s a bit demolition job that happened,”
“There is scapegoating that is going on, finger-pointing. People are pointing to other people so that they will be able to escape their responsibility,” Puno added.
The lawmaker issued the statement amid reports linking farm-to-market road (FMR) projects in Leyte to alleged overpricing and misuse of public funds as the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee said it may also shift its efforts from investigating flood control project anomalies to questionable projects under the Department of Agriculture.
Puno said the FMR projects had passed the scrutiny of the concerned departments.
He said DA Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. himself had earlier flagged “ghost” and “substandard” FMR projects, but none of those were in Leyte.
“So, I don’t know where that report came from regarding the Leyte farm-to-market roads,” Puno said.
Senator Sherwin Gatchalian earlier claimed the government lost P10.3 billion from overpriced FMRs built in 2023 and 2024.
Gatchalian said the 10 most overpriced FMR projects were mostly in Regions V (Bicol), VIII (Eastern Visayas), and III (Central Luzon).
Puno, however, lamented that the issue resurfaced only now, conveniently timed to coincide with Romualdez’s ICI appearance.
“There is all of these distractions that are being created and I’m sensing a lynch-mob mentality trying to pin the (former) Speaker alone to all of the things that have happened, which is terribly unfair,” Puno said.
He said the situation has turned into a case of “negative propaganda” that the public should assess more critically.
“I think these kinds of demolition and negative propaganda should be evaluated by the public in the right way,” he said.
Puno said by the time correct explanations are given, the damage has already been done.
Earlier, Romualdez’s office said the legislator “welcomes the opportunity to cooperate with the ICI and fully supports its objective of promoting transparency, accountability, and good governance.”
“In this regard, Rep. Romualdez is prepared to appear before the Commission,” read the statement dated Oct. 8.
