Statement of House Spox on Acting Davao Mayor Baste Duterte’s Accusation vs. Speaker Martin Romualdez
House spox Atty. Princess Abante stressed that the Dutertes are allegedly popular for keeping their own Statements of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth or SALNs “a closely guarded secret”.
President Bongbong Marcos recently ordered a “lifestyle check” among the government officials amid the issue of the anomalous flood control projects in the Philippines. According to the Chief Executive, the investigation will start among the officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) which is the center of criticisms amid the issue.
The order of the President earned the support of several government officials including Vice Pres. Sara Duterte. It is no secret to the Filipino people that there is a huge rift between the highest and the second-highest officials in the government. The Vice President previously claimed that she has no ill feelings against Marcos Jr. but she has a problem with how he governs the country.
Vice Pres. Sara Duterte agrees to the “lifestyle check” order of Marcos Jr. among the government officials but stressed that it should be shallow. According to her, the probe should be “deep dive” and should not settle with just the presentation of SALNs. She also suggested that it should not only include the elected government officials but as well as the appointed officials.
Amid the “lifestyle check” order of Pres. Bongbong Marcos among the public officials, acting Davao City Mayor Baste Duterte claimed that House Speaker Martin Romualdez’s SALN was allegedly only P200 million in 2022 but rose to P3 billion now. He called on the House Committee on Appropriations to investigate the SALN of Romualdez as well as of Ako Bicol Party-list Representative Zaldy Co’s.
Following the claim of acting Davao City Mayor Baste Duterte, House spox Atty. Princess Abante claimed that the SALN of House Speaker Martin Romualdez is ready for “proper scrutiny”. She also stressed that it is filed in accordance with the law.
Based on a report on Inquirer, Atty. Princess Abante called the move of acting Davao Mayor Baste Duterte as “another baseless attempt” against House Speaker Martin Romualdez. She also called the figures cited by the acting Davao City Mayor as “nothing but absurd fabrications”.
“What makes this even more ironic is that the Dutertes are known for keeping their own SALNs a closely guarded secret, refusing to make them public despite years in power. Now they dare lecture others about transparency? That is hypocrisy of the highest order,” the House Spox said.
Furthermore, the House Spox also stressed that if the Dutertes truly believe in transparency, they should be the first to disclose their SALNs. Based on the report, Abante called the move as allegedly “inventing lies to cover up their own families”.
Amid the order of the President, Senate Minority member Senator Migz Zubiri previously issued a warning on the disclosure of SALN of the public officials amid the “lifestyle check” order.