It’s mistake, ex-solon says on being linked by Rody to drugs

SURIGAO CITY – Guilt by association.

This was the assertion of former congressman Guillermo Romarate Jr. who was among the high-profile personalities publicly linked by President Duterte to illegal drugs.

Romarate, nephew to convicted robber Herbert Colangco who was earlier named by the President as one of the drug lords operating inside the New Bilibid Prison, said he may have been erroneously included on the list because he and Colangco are related by blood.

“I have no idea on what evidence or in what capacity my inclusion [on] the list rests,” said Romarate, whose term as second district congressman of Surigao del Norte ended in May.

“If it is still in my having a nephew named Gilbert Colangco as what my political opponents have painstakingly pointed to then, allow me to reiterate my misgivings in not having the power to choose my relatives.”
The former lawmaker said he has been estranged with Colangco for many years “because of my refusal to help him in his criminal cases.” He said he has never visited his nephew in Bilibid and this can be verified in the prison’s visitor’s log.

“I have never celebrated, nor partaken of, Mr Colangco’s criminal life,” said Romarate, adding that his association with his nephew “is limited only to our shared blood.”

“I abhor everything that he represents. I deplore the evils that he has done on the society and, as an uncle who tried to reform him during his younger years, I am hurt seeing him go down this path,” he added.

Although he was saddened by the inclusion of his name in the so-called illegal drugs list, Romarate said he considers it “a blessing in disguise.”

“I expect that a full-blown investigation will follow, and I am willing to submit myself to full scrutiny so that once and for all – after years and years of being unjustly linked to my nephew’s criminal activities – I will be able to finally clear my name,” he said.

Romarate, who once chaired the House committee on human rights, said that he and his family “have been law-abiding citizens all our life. I have always been vocal of my support for the vigorous anti-illegal drugs campaign of the President.”

Romarate, a former banker and a university professor, owns a conglomerate of lending and appliance companies in the Visayas in Mindanao. His 2015 statement of assets and liabilities (SALN) puts his personal wealth at over P30 million.

“I have built a legitimate micro-financing business that is now 24 years old, with over 100 branches in the Visayas and Mindanao. My companies have grown through time and the sweat and sheer hard-work of my employees,” he said.

“During my time in Congress, I have never been involved in any irregularity, such as the infamous Napoles scam. When my term ended this year, I ran for governor in Surigao del Norte but lost because I could not mount a serious challenge against ‘big money’ that currently pervades our politics,” he said.

Romarate lost the gubernatorial race to incumbent Gov. Sol Matugas in the last elections./rga

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