Sa isang video message na inilabas ngayong gabi, April 21, mariing itinanggi ni dating Speaker at Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez ang mga alegasyon laban sa kanya sa usapin ng flood control at iginiit na hindi siya papayag na gawing fall guy.
“I will not be a scapegoat for actions I did not commit,” ani Romualdez. “The truth is not afraid of scrutiny—and neither am I.”
Inanunsyo rin niyang bubuksan niya sa publiko ang mga dokumentong magpapatunay umano na wala siyang kinalaman sa flood control issue.
“I have nothing to hide. Let the Filipino people judge the truth based on evidence—not on speculation or politics,” aniya.
Ayon kay Romualdez, nakipagtulungan siya sa mga awtoridad mula pa sa simula.
“I provided the information and documents asked of me. I did not hide. I did not run. I did not evade scrutiny. I faced it head on,” aniya.
Dagdag pa niya, “Because I know there is no evidence that proves I committed plunder, conspiracy to commit plunder or any similar offense.”
Tinawag din niyang “absurd” ang alegasyong siya ang utak ng umano’y anomalya.
“How can I be the mastermind?” ani Romualdez. “The national budget is not conceived, executed, implemented, bidded out, supervised and completed by one congressman or even by Congress alone and certainly not by the Speaker of the House.”
Ipinaliwanag niya na nagsisimula ang badyet sa ehekutibo.
“The budget does not begin in the House. It begins in the Executive,” aniya. “The national budget is not the act of one person or one chamber. It is a product of a constitutional chain involving the Executive, the House, and the Senate.”
Binigyang-diin din niya na kolektibo ang proseso sa Kamara.
“The House is not one person and it is certainly not the Speaker alone. It is a collegial body,” aniya.
Ayon kay Romualdez, ang tunay na usapin ay nasa implementasyon ng proyekto.
“If corruption were to occur, it happens at the level of execution… where procurement is undertaken… where monetary disbursements are actually made,” aniya. “Congress does not build flood control projects. Congress does not conduct procurement.”
Para patunayan ang kanyang punto, handa umano niyang ipasuri ang mga proyekto sa kanyang distrito.
“If I were truly involved… you would have seen it in Tacloban… my district has zero ghost and zero substandard flood control projects,” aniya.
Hinimok din niya ang Office of the Ombudsman na sundan ang ebidensya.
“Follow the evidence wherever it leads. Justice demands fairness, not convenience,” aniya.
Mas maaga nitong araw, naglabas din ng pahayag ang kanyang kampo sa pamamagitan ni Atty. Ade Fajardo, kaugnay ng travel authority na hinihingi ng dating House Speaker para magkapag-pacheck up sa Singapore.
Nauna dito, inanunsyo ng pamunuan ng Kamara na pinayagan nitong makalabas ng bansa. Sa hiwalay namang anunsyo, sinabi ng Office of the Ombudsman na hindi ito pumayag sa nasabing byahe.
“Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez is not ‘barred’ from leaving the country,” ani Fajardo, na naglinaw na ang immigration lookout bulletin order “does not prohibit travel but simply requires prior coordination with authorities.”
Dagdag pa niya, “Rep. Romualdez sought travel authority in all good faith—and this authority has been granted.”
Iginiit din ni Fajardo na walang freeze order na inilabas laban sa kanya.
“As of this time, we have received no official notice of any such application or order,” ayon sa pahayag.
Sa usapin ng kaso, nilinaw ng kampo ni Romualdez na wala pang pormal na isinampa.
“There is no filed charge before the Office of the Ombudsman or any court,” ayon sa abogado ni Romualdez.
Sa huli, iginiit ni Romualdez na haharapin niya ang lahat ng alegasyon.
“I will face this head-on. I have nothing to fear from the truth,” aniya. “I will not be the fall guy for other people’s corruption.” /Bistado