00:00Magandang araw sa inyong lahat.
00:02For a long time, I chose to remain silent.
00:05I did so out of respect for the legal process.
00:08I did so because I did not want to add more noise to an already divisive issue.
00:14I did so because I believed that if I cooperated fully, submitted myself to the proper authorities,
00:20and answered every question asked of me, the truth would eventually speak for itself.
00:25But there comes a point when silence is no longer prudence.
00:28My silence has been abused and weaponized to build a narrative that is false, twisted, and unfair.
00:35So let me be clear, I will not keep quiet anymore.
00:38I will face this head-on, and I will speak with facts because the truth deserves to be heard.
00:46Today, I am taking this opportunity to speak directly to the Filipino people.
00:50From the start of this controversy, I have been cooperative.
00:55I personally appeared before the proper authorities.
00:57I voluntarily submitted my affidavit to the ICI.
01:01I provided the information and documents asked of me.
01:05I did not hide.
01:06I did not run.
01:07I did not evade scrutiny.
01:09I faced it head-on, within the proper channel,
01:12because I know there is no evidence that proves I committed plunder,
01:17conspiracy to commit plunder,
01:18or any similar offense that the Ombudsman may be contemplating against me.
01:23And because I have nothing to hide,
01:26I am today authorizing the immediate public release of the affidavit I submitted,
01:31together with all supporting information,
01:33so that the Filipino people can judge for themselves
01:36who has been transparent and who is simply being politically targeted.
01:41Now let us address the most absurd accusation of all,
01:45that I am supposedly the mastermind of this corruption scheme.
01:49How can I be the mastermind?
01:52I was the former Speaker of the House of Representatives,
01:55but the House of Representatives is only one part of the branch of government,
02:00the legislature.
02:01The national budget is not conceived, executed, implemented,
02:06billed out, supervised, and completed by one congressman,
02:10or even by Congress alone,
02:12and certainly not by the Speaker of the House.
02:15I want to make this simple and clear.
02:18The national budget does not depend on just one person.
02:23The budget does not begin in the House.
02:25It begins in the executive.
02:27The agencies and departments prepare their proposals.
02:32The executive consolidates them into the national expenditure program,
02:35and that program is then submitted to Congress.
02:39From there, the House deliberates,
02:42but the House is not one person,
02:44and it is certainly not the Speaker alone.
02:48It is a collegial body made up of hundreds of members,
02:51multiple committees,
02:52vice chairs,
02:53and institutional processes.
02:55In fact, there are around 85 committees,
02:58each with its own jurisdiction,
03:00leadership,
03:01and members.
03:02No Speaker can personally control every committee,
03:06much less direct the actions of other branches
03:09or government agencies.
03:11And in the Appropriations Committee itself,
03:13there are already more than 100 members,
03:16with many vice chairs,
03:18and Representative Toby Tianko,
03:21who has been very vocal and upfront on this issue over the past months,
03:25was himself a vice chair of the Appropriations Committee in the previous Congress.
03:31So I have to ask,
03:32if there were real concerns about irregularities in the budget process,
03:36why were these not formally raised during the deliberations,
03:40or even during the plenary?
03:42The budget deliberation does not stop in the House.
03:45The Senate also conducts its own deliberations,
03:48reviews its own version,
03:49and plays its own role,
03:50in shaping the final budget,
03:52and it is not a bystander.
03:54It is an active constitutional participant in this process.
03:59After that,
04:00the House and the Senate reconcile their versions
04:02in the bicameral conference committee.
04:05Only then is the final bill transmitted to the President
04:08for approval or veto.
04:10So let us be honest about what becomes law.
04:13The national budget is not the act of one person or one chamber.
04:17It is the product of a constitutional chain
04:19involving the Executive,
04:21the House,
04:21and the Senate.
04:23This is something I want the public to understand.
04:25The budget process is collective,
04:27multilayered,
04:28and shared.
04:30Accountability must apply to everyone involved,
04:32not selectively assigned after the fact,
04:35and certainly not when it becomes politically useful.
04:38If corruption were to occur in a magnitude
04:40may known to us over the past months,
04:42then it's clear
04:43that the real corruption does not happen
04:46at the level of the general legislative approval alone.
04:49It happens at the level of execution
04:52of the General Appropriations Act.
04:54It happens when projects are implemented.
04:57It happens where projects are actually implemented,
05:00where procurement is undertaken,
05:02where monetary disbursements are actually made.
05:05And it happens when substandard projects
05:07are passed off as legitimate
05:09or when ghost projects are made to appear real.
05:13That is why command responsibility
05:15is far more logically relevant
05:16in the Executive branch,
05:18where there is actual supervision,
05:20operational control,
05:21and implementation on the ground,
05:23than in the collegial legislative body
05:26where constitutional role
05:27is deliberation and appropriation.
05:30Congress does not build flood control projects.
05:33Congress does not conduct procurement.
05:35Congress does not inspect
05:37whether a project was actually completed.
05:39Congress does not certify
05:41whether the work done
05:42was substandard or not.
05:44So if the allegation
05:46is that there was a systemic corruption
05:48in flood control implementation,
05:50then the public should ask
05:52the obvious question,
05:53where does implementation
05:55actually happen?
05:57Definitely not in the session hall
05:59of the House of Representatives.
06:00Here is the simplest way
06:02to test that theory
06:03that I am the mastermind
06:05of this scheme.
06:05If I were truly involved
06:07in a fraudulent scheme
06:08of this nature,
06:09then the first place
06:11one would expect
06:11to see that pattern
06:12would be in my own district,
06:15in the projects
06:16most easily associated with me.
06:18You would have seen it
06:19in Taclobat,
06:20but I say this
06:21with absolute certainty.
06:22You won't see it
06:24in my district.
06:24My district has
06:26zero ghost
06:26and zero substandard
06:28flood control projects.
06:30Zero.
06:31And that is verifiable.
06:33To prove this point,
06:34I am authorizing my staff
06:36to share and release
06:37to the public
06:37the list of all the projects
06:39in my district
06:40that the authorities
06:41may deem attributable to me.
06:43Let the public scrutinize
06:45and verify for themselves.
06:46As I already mentioned,
06:48corruption of this scale
06:50is not a one-man operation.
06:51It requires two things.
06:54Budget decisions
06:55and implementation on the ground.
06:57With respect to how
06:59the budget was deliberated
07:00in Congress,
07:01let me say this categorically.
07:03I was not a part
07:05of the BICAM
07:06and the small committee
07:07budget deliberations.
07:09Yes, I was updated
07:10on the general outcomes
07:12of the deliberations,
07:13but I had no visibility
07:14with regard to the specific
07:16details of the discussions,
07:18including particular amendments
07:20or insertions approved
07:22during these closed-door
07:23deliberations.
07:24Records would show
07:26that I did not participate
07:27in those meetings
07:29and I was not privy
07:30to what exactly transpired
07:32during the deliberations.
07:34However,
07:35two people
07:36were instrumental
07:37in making those budget decisions,
07:40Chise Escudero
07:41and Zaldico.
07:42And once the budget
07:44becomes law,
07:45the work of implementing
07:46flood control projects
07:47or any project
07:48for that matter
07:49is solely within the purview
07:50of the executive,
07:52including the DPWH,
07:54certainly not by legislators.
07:57I understand
07:58the anger of the public.
07:59The Filipino people
08:00have every right
08:01to be angry
08:02because stolen public funds
08:03are taxes derived
08:04from hard-earned money.
08:06I am not asking
08:07the public
08:08to look away.
08:09I am asking everyone
08:10to look where
08:11the evidence points,
08:12not where it is
08:13politically convenient
08:14or politically motivated.
08:16So I ask the ombudsman
08:18and the public
08:19these questions.
08:20Who has been named
08:21in sworn testimonies
08:23and affidavits?
08:24Whose name actually
08:25appear in credible accounts
08:27made under oath?
08:29If there are sworn accounts
08:30pointing to other personalities
08:32across the chain,
08:33whether in budget deliberations
08:35or in implementation,
08:36then those leads
08:37must be pursued
08:38with the same seriousness
08:39and the same urgency.
08:42Accountability
08:42cannot be selective.
08:44For months,
08:45I chose silence
08:46because I believe
08:47in our legal system
08:48and in the rule of law.
08:50But my silence
08:51is now being exploited
08:52with politically engineered
08:53and fabricated narratives.
08:55What's even more disturbing,
08:56and this is something
08:57that cannot be ignored,
08:58is that there are
08:59emerging indications
09:00that certain sectors
09:01are attempting
09:02to weaponize individuals,
09:04including Zaldico,
09:05to construct a narrative
09:06that serves
09:07their own interests.
09:09So when the legal processes
09:10is being used against me
09:12as a political demolition job,
09:14then I will have no choice
09:15but to defend myself,
09:17and I will defend myself fully.
09:19I will not allow myself
09:21to be turned into the scapegoat
09:23so that others
09:23who are actually accountable
09:25can walk away clean.
09:27If this is a political play
09:28to push me out
09:29and close the story,
09:31tarnishing my name
09:32and my reputation,
09:33then I am telling everyone now,
09:35I will not go quietly
09:37and I will not go alone.
09:39I will not be the fall guy
09:41for other people's corruption.
09:42I have been in public life
09:44long enough,
09:45I have seen enough,
09:46I have heard enough.
09:47I know many things
09:49about this current administration
09:51and past administrations as well.
09:53And I say this carefully.
09:55If this matter
09:57is to be handled
09:57as a legal issue,
09:59then let it be handled
10:00legally,
10:01soberly,
10:02and according to evidence.
10:04But if certain people
10:05insist on waging this
10:07in the court of public opinion,
10:08then I will have no choice
10:09but to defend myself
10:10publicly as well.
10:12To the Ombudsman,
10:13I say this with full respect.
10:15If your office
10:16truly believes in justice,
10:18then follow the sworn statements,
10:20follow the records,
10:21and follow the evidence
10:23all the way.
10:24Do not stop
10:25where it is politically convenient.
10:26Do not settle
10:27for the easiest headline.
10:29Do not confuse
10:30public pressure
10:31with prosecutorial duty.
10:33What I ask of the office
10:34of the Ombudsman is simple.
10:35Follow the rule of law
10:37and due process.
10:39This is a serious matter
10:40and it should be handled
10:42with seriousness,
10:43not with haste,
10:44theatrics,
10:45or shortcuts.
10:46I am ready
10:47and willing to respond
10:48to every allegation
10:49in the proper forum.
10:50through the proper pleadings,
10:52motions,
10:52and submissions
10:53that the law allows.
10:55And to those who think
10:56they can throw me
10:57under the bus
10:58to save themselves,
10:59this is what I have
11:00to say to you.
11:01I am ready
11:02to defend my name.
11:04My silence
11:05should not be mistaken
11:06for weakness,
11:07ignorance,
11:08or fear.
11:09I know enough
11:10to defend myself
11:11and if I am forced
11:13to do so in public,
11:14I will.
11:16Marami salamat po.
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