MISMONG si House Secretary General Reginald Velasco ang naglinaw na hindi P1.8-B ang travel expenses ng Office of the Speaker.
Ayon kay Velasco, mahigit P4-M lamang ang nagastos ng tanggapan ni Speaker Martin Romualdez mula Enero hanggang Oktubre ngayong taon.
“For the Office of the Speaker, these are the staff (and) members of the Speaker who accompany him on all of his foreign trips. The total expenses of the Office of the Speaker from January to October this year 2023 is P4,347,712.58,” saad ni Reginald Velasco, House Secretary General.
Mahigit naman sa P35-M ang nagastos sa lahat ng official trips ng mga kongresista.
Sa kabuuan, narito ang gastos ng Kamara sa foreign trip ngayong 2023.
“The total for all, Office of the Speaker and the House Secretariat and the members of Congress who go on an official trip (is) P39, 605, 123.61,” pahayag ni Reginald Velasco, House Secretary General.
Matatandaan na natanong sa programang Laban Kasama ang Bayan sa SMNI kung totoo bang umabot sa P1.8-B ang travel expenses ng Kamara.
Nilinaw naman ng SMNI na hindi akusasyon kundi nagtatanong lamang ang isa sa host ng programa na si Jeffrey ‘Ka Eric’ Celiz kung totoo ang issue.
“There were no allegations about P1.8 Billion Mr. Chair, it was just a question given not on behalf of SMNI but given it is a statement of an anchor of SMNI. And there is a disclaimer in every program of SMNI. Any statement made by the anchor and guest not the official stand of SMNI. And second Mr. Chair, there was no deliberate false information,” ayon kay Atty. Mark Tolentino, SMNI Legal Counsel.
Dahil sa paglilinaw sa hearing, aminado naman si Ka Eric na hindi tugma ang datos ng kaniyang source sa aktwal na ginastos ng Kamara.
“We are now very enlightened, thank you so much your honors na sinabi po dito na less than P5 Million pala ‘yung expenses ni Speaker Martin Romualdez at ng buong House of Representatives ay nasa P35 Million lang,” ani Jeffrey ‘Ka Eric’ Celiz, Program Host, Laban Kasama ang Bayan.
