Press Officer of Malacañang Asked about Sen. Chiz Escudero’s Senate Speech
Malacañang reacted to the “script” claim of Senator Chiz Escudero against former House Speaker Martin Romualdez amid the flood control issue.
The Senate had a shakeup amid the flood control mess in the Philippines after some senators were accused of allegedly receiving kickback from the flood control projects. Dismissed Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) engineer Brice Hernandez accused senators Joel Villanueva and Jinggoy Estrada of allegedly receiving flood control kickbacks.
Sen. Chiz Escudero was also ousted and replaced with Sen. Tito Sotto following his admission that he received a P30-million campaign donation from one of the contractors flagged by Pres. Bongbong Marcos. Escudero, Estrada, and Villanueva are now part of the Senate Minority bloc.
However, amid the continuing investigation on the flood control issue in the country, former DPWH Undersecretary Roberto Bernardo claimed that Sen. Chiz Escudero allegedly received a P160-million kickback from a flood control project. The Senator denied the accusation.
Recently, in front of his fellow senators in the Senate, Sen. Chiz Escudero delivered a speech wherein he claimed that former House Speaker Martin Romualdez was allegedly behind the supposed “script and zarzuela” with regards to the flood control issue.
Presidential cousin and Leyte Congressman Martin Romualdez resigned from being the House speaker amid the accusation of flood control corruptions against him. He previously denied the corruption accusations against him claiming that he is “self-made” and will not allow himself to be corrupted by the money that does not belong to him.
In his Senate speech, Sen. Chiz Escudero claimed that former House Speaker Martin Romualdez allegedly masterminded the flood control corruptions against the senators. According to him, he is not afraid of Romualdez who seems to remain as the name that cannot be mentioned.
Escudero also asked why the government agencies allegedly do not include Romualdez in their investigation. He stressed that he is not afraid of the former House Speaker and he can defend himself but he is concerned over what is happening in the Senate.
The claims of Sen. Chiz Escudero earned different reactions. Recently, Malacañang was asked about its side on the Senate speech of the lawmakers.
Based on a social media post of News5, Malacañang press officer undersecretary Claire Castro stressed that the view of other people may not be the same with the view of Sen. Chiz Escudero. She also stressed that everyone named in the issue should be “presumed innocent until proven guilty”.
“Kung ‘yan po ang kanyang napapansin at nakikita, malamang hindi naman po ‘yan ang napapansin ng iba. Sa ngayon, lahat po ng naituturo at nababanggit na pangalan, dapat nating ituring na inosente. They should be presumed innocent until proven guilty. Let us go to where the evidence leads us,” the Palace official said.
Malacañang press officer undersecretary Claire Castro also claimed that accountability allegedly cannot be done through pointing fingers. Based on the post, it should be through sufficient evidence.
“Hindi po nadadaan sa magandang talumpati, hindi nadaraan sa pagtuturo ang pagpapanagot sa mga nasabing umabuso ng pondo. Kundi sa pamamagitan ng sapat na ebidensya,” Castro said.
Amid the flood control mess, Zaldy Co earned the support of Ako Bicol Partylist.