Vice President Leni Robredo on Sunday questioned the need to name the nine lawmakers allegedly involved in corruption related to infrastructure projects if there was no hard evidence against them.
President Duterte bared the names of former and current lawmakers who allegedly received kickbacks from the government’s public works projects.
They were in the list provided by the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) that supposedly cropped up from its investigation, although Duterte admitted he has no evidence of such allegations.
“Ang sa akin, ang tanong ko nga, kung wala namang hard evidence, bakit kailangang pangalanan?” she asked during her radio show, “BISErbisyong Leni.”
(For me, my question is, why should they be named if there was no hard evidence?)
The vice president said that a thorough investigation should be conducted to prove the lawmakers are indeed guilty of corruption.
“Iyong pinakamabuti na gawin, kung mayroong sumbong, kung mayroong nagpapadala ng kung ano, paimbestigahan,” Robredo said.
(The best thing to do if there are complaints, if a person sent something, they must be investigated.)
During his recent public address, Duterte named the congressmen were as follow: Occidental Mindoro Rep. Josephine Sato, former Ifugao Rep. Teodoro Baguilat Jr., Quezon City 5th District Rep. Alfredo Paolo Vargas, Misamis Occidental 2nd District Rep. Henry Oaminal, Isabela 4th District Rep. Alyssa Sheena P. Tan, Northern Samar 1st District Rep. Paul Daza, Quezon 4th District Rep. Angelina Helen Tan, ACT-CIS party-list Rep. Eric Yap, and Bataan 1st District Rep. Geraldine Roman.
Sato, Baguilat, and Daza are Robredo’s partymates in the opposition Liberal Party.
The LP, chaired by Robredo, stood by its members who Duterte accused of corruption, saying it was just a diversionary tactic used by the current administration to divert discussions on issues of national interest.