Solon hits Piñol’s criticism of PH debt, calls it ‘brazen hypocrisy’

Rep. Jefferson Khonghun. From Khonghun’s Facebook page.

MANILA, Philippines—Former Agricultural secretary Manny Piñol’s criticism of the country’s mounting debt is “brazen hypocrisy,” according to Zambales 1st District Rep. Jefferson Khonghun.

Khonghun said in a statement on Tuesday the borrowings ballooned during former president Rodrigo Duterte’s time.

He claimed that Piñol, who is running for North Cotabato’s gubernatorial post in the 2025 midterm elections, is just trying to rewrite history when he called out the current administration for having a P16.63 trillion debt.

The lawmaker stressed that after the term of former president Benigno Aquino III, Duterte’s predecessor, the country’s debt was only at P6.6 trillion.  However, during Duterte’s time, the government borrowed P7.2 trillion.

Duterte administration’s debts, according to Khonghun, was bigger than the combined debt left by all previous presidents.

`Set the record straight’

“Let’s set the record straight: It was under your boss, former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, when our country’s debt truly ballooned — with P7.2 trillion added in just six years,” Khonghun said of Piñol, who was Department of Agriculture (DA) head during Duterte’s time.

“That’s more than the combined total debt of all Philippine presidents from Manual Quezon to Benigno ‘Noynoy’ Aquino III over 89 years amounting to only P6.6-trillion.  If there’s a ‘death burden,’ it was the one the Duterte administration created,” he added.

Khonghun’s statement was a reaction to Piñol’s statements during a campaign sortie at North Cotabato, video footage of which was uploaded on the former DA official’s Facebook page.

Piñol spoke using the local dialect, but he claimed that programs of the government like aid distribution have a hidden agenda — a desire to stay in power beyond their term.  Furthermore, Piñol said that the government’s debt has ballooned to P16.6 trillion under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s term.

LINK TO VIDEO: https://www.facebook.com/gobmannypinol/videos/1236623568071441

Khonghun, however, said Piñol’s statements are laughable, given that the former DA secretary presided over a controversial time in the department.

“He presided over rice crises, proposed legalizing smuggling, bungled the bird flu outbreak, and was linked to questionable behavior in the Recto Bank incident. And now he wants to lecture us on responsible governance,” Khonghun said.

`Mortgage our nation’s future’

“We in Congress are now pushing for reforms to make sure future administrations don’t recklessly mortgage our nation’s future the way it was done under Duterte,” Khonghun said.  “That includes investigating how the P7.2 trillion in loans was used, and whether the Filipino people truly benefited from that borrowed money.”

Piñol, who headed DA in from 2016 to 2019, was criticized publicly in September 2018 after he said that he saw nothing irregular in rice infested with “bukbok” or weevils, saying that these grains are safe to eat.

“I was born poor and I’ve always known that weevils are part of rice. As I’ve said, weevils are to grain as black ants are to fruits,” Piñol said in the vernacular.

Piñol’s statements came after it was revealed that 133,000 sacks of rice stored on a ship docked in Subic, and 177,000 in Albay were all infested with weevils, requiring the need for fumigation to remove the insects.

Piñol and former Health secretary Francisco Duque III both assured the public that fumigated rice is still safe to eat.

READ: DA chief sees nothing irregular in rice infested with weevils

Regarding Recto Bank, Piñol was accused of allegedly intimidating Filipino fishermen whose boat, F/B Gem-Ver, was allegedly rammed by a Chinese vessel over the West Philippine Sea last June 2019.

Fishermen’s narration

The allegations came after Piñol relayed that one of the crew members told him that it is possible that the Chinese vessel did not see their boat before it smashed into their fantail.  Critics, however, noted changes in the fishermen’s narration of their encounter with the Chinese vessel before and after meeting Piñol.

But Piñol said it is unfair to hint that the fishermen were intimidated into changing their story about what had happened, into a version favorable to the government.

READ: No intimidation in meeting with Recto Bank fishermen — Piñol

According to Khonghun, Piñol should look himself in the mirror before pointing fingers, as the current administration is trying to fix the problems caused by the past administration.

“The truth is simple: the current government is paying for the sins of the past. The ones who bloated the debt are now acting like saints. It’s shameless,” Khonghun said.

Before pointing fingers, look in the mirror. You resigned in disgrace. And you still owe the Filipino people answers — not lectures,” he added.