PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. must not allow any lawmaker to flee the country or just resign to evade accountability from their lavish lifestyles that were funded by people’s taxes, Vice President Sara Duterte said Thursday.
Duterte’s remarks came after the resignation of Leyte 1st District Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez as House of Representatives speaker amid allegations that he was involved in anomalous flood control projects.
Romualdez was replaced by Isabela Rep. Faustino “Bojie” Dy III.
“He should not let congressmen fly out of the country or to resign just to evade accountability on the chopping off our budget and getting the people’s money to buy properties here and abroad, jets and their lifestyle,” Duterte told reporters at the sidelines of a trade event in Davao City.
Duterte described Dy as a “good person,” having met him several times in events.
She, however, described Isabela’s governor, Rodolfo “Rodito” Albano, and his brother, Isabela Rep. Antonio “Tonypet” Albano, as being in Romualdez’s circle.
“The change in the speakership is just to tell the people that the House of Representatives acted on the anger of the people, but the truth is, it just revolved on their group, the group of Martin Romualdez, Sandro Marcos and then to BBM,” Duterte said.
She said the 2026 budget that is being deliberated in Congress will be used for the 2028 presidential elections.
Despite the leadership change, Duterte believes that there will never be any stability in government institutions since the current administration “abused” its power to exploit the institutions.
“Our economy is not [at] its best. Whether our political stability is down to negative 2, negative 3 or even negative 10, it is still messy because first there is no vision, no direction and no plans. You see that they always speak about politics and ensuring that they have money in their pockets and the next election. That is what you are seeing in government. You are not seeing any big-ticket project from the government.”
Duterte’s eldest brother, Davao 1st District Rep. Paolo Duterte, blasted House Majority Leader and Ilocos Norte 1st District Rep. Ferdinand Alexander Marcos for alleging that he has “ghost” flood control projects in his district.
In an interview with reporters on Wednesday, Marcos chided Duterte for his statement that Dy was his choice to succeed Romualdez.
“We are consultative with all the party leaders. You can ask them. If Cong[ressman] Pulong showed up here at the session, maybe he can see that. But he is probably looking for the P51 billion spent on his district,” Marcos said.
Pulong is Paolo Duterte’s nickname.
In a strongly worded retort on Thursday, Paolo Duterte said that if only Marcos were “not blind and deaf to the clamor of our people — a clamor drowned by the influence of money and power — he would know that DPWH (Department of Public Works and Highways) Region 11 (Davao Region) has already clarified the P49.8 billion worth of projects in Davao City,” and all are accounted for.
“There are no ghost projects here! I am not the one looking, but the public is the one asking you for receipts,” he said.
He also pushed Marcos and his father, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., to take a hair-follicle drug test.
