By Zaldy De Layola
MANILA – Former House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez on Monday denied Vice President Sara Duterte’s allegations linking him to illegal gambling and supposed deliveries of cash claims, calling them baseless and fabricated.
“Naririnig ko ang mga akusasyon. Diretsahan kong sasabihin: hindi totoo na ako’y tumatanggap mula sa ilegal na sugal (I heard the accusations. Directly, I would say: It’s not true that I was receiving money from illegal gambling),” the Leyte representative said, adding that the stories about alleged “suitcases of cash” are “pure fiction” meant to tarnish his name.
“Lahat guni-guni. Madaling magturo, madaling mag-imbento — pero ang katotohanan, hindi kayang patunayan. Until today, wala pa ring ipinakitang ebidensya — puro sabi-sabi lang na inuulit-ulit (It’s easy to finger-point, it’s easy to invent — but the truth is — it can’t be proven. Until today, there is still no evidence shown – it’s all hearsay said over and over again),” he said.
Romualdez also hit back at the source of the allegations, saying it was unfortunate that Vice President Duterte, who herself is facing her own political troubles, is spreading such “lies.”
“When the source itself has lost credibility, why should anyone believe these baseless claims?” the erstwhile House leader added.
‘Script mastermind’
Senator Francis Escudero, meanwhile, accused Romualdez of orchestrating what he called a “script and sarswela (dramatics)” to divert public outrage over ghost and substandard flood control projects away from House representatives and toward senators.
In a plenary manifestation on Monday, Escudero said senators were being made “fall guys” in the controversy despite testimonies showing no direct links to them.
“Kapani-paniwala ba na wala silang kinausap na kahit isang congressman? Lahat ito, para lang ipako ang mga senador sa media at publiko, at ilayo ang atensyon sa Kamara at mga congressman (Is it believable that they did not speak to any sitting Congressman? All of this is meant to crucify senators before the media and the public, and divert attention away from the House and congressmen),” he said.
He said Romualdez is behind the scheme, citing the testimony of retired Philippine Marines Master Sgt. Orly Guteza, who claimed to have personally delivered billions of pesos in cash-filled suitcases to Romualdez’s residences.
Escudero warned that the Senate was being unfairly maligned and vowed to resist what he called selective justice. (With Wilnard Bacelonia/PNA)
