Militant lawmakers press Duterte to fire Diokno

The questionable allotment of P325 million to Casiguran town in Sorsogon province is enough reason for President Duterte to let the ax fall on Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno, the Makabayan bloc of party-list groups in the House of Representatives said on Sunday.

In a statement, Makabayan noted that Diokno had already acknowledged the fact that Sorsogon Vice Gov. Ester Hamor is the mother of Diokno’s son-in-law.

Hamor, who is running for mayor of Sorsogon City in the 2019 elections, is the wife of incumbent Casiguran Mayor Edwin Hamor.

“The apparent beneficiaries of this P325-million allocation for new projects in Casiguran are [the] in-laws of Secretary Diokno,” Makabayan said.

“It is high time Diokno [was held liable] for seemingly using the national budget as his personal purse and doling out gifts to those close to him,” the group added.

Registered owner

House Majority Leader Rolando Andaya Jr. earlier disclosed that it was Diokno’s office, the Department of Budget and Management that set aside P325 million worth of infrastructure projects for Casiguran, a fourth-class municipality with a population of about 34,000.

According to Andaya, a daughter of the Hamors, Maria Minez Hamor, is the registered owner of Aremar Construction Corp., which had entered into a joint venture with the Bulacan-based CT Leoncio Construction and Trading for projects in Sorsogon.

House Minority Leader Danilo Suarez said CT Leoncio bagged government projects worth P2.8 billion in Sorsogon alone.

Makabayan said the House should also look into the alleged “parking” scheme in the national budget, the “insertions” of billions of pesos in the draft spending bill and the reported influence of “favored contractors” in some state agencies.