MANILA, Philippines – Pampanga 3rd District Rep. Aurelio “Dong” Gonzales does not believe that candidates for the House speakership are bribing their colleagues to secure the lower chamber’s top post.
“Yan ang bali-balita sa floor pero ‘di pa rin ako naniniwala,” Gonzales said in an interview with ABS-CBN News Channel’s “Headstart” on Monday.
“Naging speaker si Sonny Belmonte, walang gastos. Naging speaker si (former) Speaker (Pantaleon) Alvarez, walang gastos. Naging Speaker si GMA (Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo) walang gastos, ni singko walang gastos. In (the) 14th Congress, nag-start ako, walang gastos yan, kaya nagtataka ‘ko sa’n nanggagaling ‘yan, kung meron man yan siguro, yung mga iba, pero I’m not sure about that,” he added.
It was ousted House speaker and re-elected Davao del Norte 1st District Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez who earlier implied that top contenders must be willing to shell out P500,000 to P1 million to be the next speaker.
READ: ‘Spend P150M to P300M, to be next Speaker’
Gonzales, who is also vying for the House speakership, further said that candidates should just voice out their platform of government to campaign instead of resorting to bribery.
“I think that’s against the law. Bakit mo ko bibigyan ng isang milyon, di ba?,” he said.
“Just to campaign, what is your platform of government kung ikaw na ang speaker? Ano ang gagawin mo sa House of Representatives? How to shepherd the 304 congressmen and congresswomen di ba? Yun lang ang gagawin natin,” he added. (Editor: Gilbert S. Gaviola)