Romualdez, Castro urge Lacson to reveal source of pork allegations

MANILA, Philippines — House Majority Leader Martin Romualdez and Capiz 2nd District Rep. Fredenil Castro urged Sen. Panfilo Lacson Tuesday to reveal his sources in accusing the House of allocating “pork” to its 22 deputy speakers.

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Lacson earlier said some congressmen told him that the 22 deputy speakers of the House would get an additional allocation of P1.5 billion each — a claim he said has to be verified.

In a press conference, Romualdez and Castro, a former majority leader, said they were clueless where these allegations came from. Both asked Lacson to help them ferret out truth by revealing the source of his information.

“Nalulungkot po kami kasi hindi natin alam kung saan po galing ‘yan (We are saddened by this because we don’t know where this information came from),” Romualdez said as he reiterated their stand the 2020 General Appropriations Bill approved by the House Friday has no illegal pork barrel and insertions.

“At this point right now, nobody seems to know where it’s coming from and it would be helpful if the good senator could help us ferret out the truth by revealing us the sources and the details of this information,” he added.

Although Lacson has the right to criticize and scrutinize the proposed P4.1 trillion national budget for 2020, Castro said “it is necessary that the information should first be verified.”

The lawmaker also asked critics of the House to stop spreading “misinformation” that the requested P1.6 billion budget for the lower House would only be used to support their 22 deputy speakers.

Castro also said the House is “not affected” by the false accusations being hurled against them.

Cibac Rep. Eduardo Villanueva, who is also deputy speaker for good governance and moral uprightness, for his part said Lacson’s allegation was a “big, big lie.”/je

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