Solon questions Duterte’s remarks vs House: We supported your admin
MANILA, Philippines — House Majority Leader and Zamboanga City 2nd District Rep. Manuel Jose Dalipe has questioned former president Rodrigo Duterte’s attacks against the legislative chamber, reminding him that it was the same establishment that helped him address the COVID-19 pandemic. In a statement on Wednesday, Dalipe said a lot of the members of the 19th Congress were also part of the 18th Congress — which took office when Duterte was still president. The same 18th Congress was responsible for the laws crafted at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic — from March 2020 to the end of Duterte’s term last June 2022. “Many of us now in the 19th Congress, we also served in the 18th Congress when President Duterte was still in office. And he knows what we did. We exerted our full support for him and his legislative agenda, and even during the time of COVID, Congress supported him. That’s why we’re perplexed today that he looks at us differently,” Dalipe said in Filipino. READ: House reps find Duterte’s tirades offensive, a serious attack – secretary general But now, Dalipe said that it seems Duterte forgot that the House never left him behind with these attacks against the institution. “Even before the time of COVID, whatever the President says, we heeded his call. We did not leave him hanging. We ensured that the Duterte administration had a sufficient budget during the time of COVID-19 so that he has funding to distribute social aid for health needs for the pandemic. We supported him,” he noted. “That’s why it’s quite sad why he issued such statements now,” he added. Duterte, during an interview with Sonshine Media Network International (SMNI) called the House the most rotten government institution, claiming that Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez was distributing pork barrels to lawmakers in the 19th Congress. READ: House answers Rodrigo Duterte’s rant after OVP lost secret funds The House leadership has denied this, noting that the pork barrel has been disallowed by the Supreme Court. The legislative body also maintained that the House does not have confidential funds (CF) — rather, the P1.6 billion are intended for extraordinary expenses by lawmakers, which are fully auditable. During the 18th Congress, Romualdez was the Majority leader of the House. He also figured in a three-way race for the Speakership — between other Duterte allies Senator Alan Peter Cayetano and Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco
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