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KUMBINSIDO ang beteranong mambabatas mula sa lungsod ng Antipolo na may kinasang “demolition job” laban kay dating House Speaker Martin Romualdez bago pa man ang takdang petsa ng pagharap sa Independent Commission for Infrastructure kaugnay umano’y ghost projects sa paggawa ng mga farm-to-market roads (FMR) sa iba’t ibang bahagi ng bansa.
Ayon kay House Deputy Speaker Ronnie Puno, isang malaking kamalian kaladkarin ang pangalan ni Romualdez sa mga proyektong naglalayon bigyan ng suporta ang hanay ng mga magsasaka.
“I think malungkot ang timing kasi the former Speaker is going to speak before the Independent Commission tomorrow, so parang may konting demolition na nangyayari dito,” wika ni Puno.
“There is scapegoating that is going on, nagtuturuan and then people are pointing to other people so that they will be able to escape their responsibility,” dugtong niya.
Tahasan din inabi rin ni Puno na mayroong pagtatangkang ilihis ang atensyon ng publiko sa tunay na isyu at pinagtutulungan si Romualdez para madiin sa lahat ng kontrobersya.
“All of the things that have happened are terribly unfair. And I think these kinds of demolition and negative propaganda should be evaluated by the public in the right way,” giit ni Puno.
Nagtataka ang kongresista kung bakit gustong palakihin ang usapin ng FMR gayung hindi naman ito bahagi ng ‘big projects’ ng Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) at Department of Agriculture (DA).
“I think that these things came about because of the DPWH and Department of Agriculture and it even passed the initial scrutiny of the secretary of the Department of Agriculture,” saad ni Puno.
“Kung maalala ninyo, nagbanggit siya ng mga ghost projects, wala ito don. Nagbanggit siya ng mga substandard, wala pa rin ito dun. So I don’t know where that report came from about the Leyte farm to market roads,” paglalahad pa niya.
Isa pa sa puna ng Deputy Speaker ay ang kabiguan umanong kunin ang panig ni Romualdez at maging ng iba pang maaaring may kinalaman sa implementasyon ng FMR projects.
“Normally kung merong mga ganyan, lalabas ka sa frontpage, you will be asked for a reply or to comment. I did not see that there was any request from the accused party to reply,” dismayadong pahayag pa niya.
“You could have asked the people that are directly involved with it—the district engineer, the provincial agriculturists—nobody bothered to ask them. So humabol pa sila ng mga statements nila justifying the projects,” anang mambabatas. (ROMER R. BUTUYAN)
