Lawmaker denies giving cash for PI

HOUSE Assistant Majority Leader and Puwersa ng Bayaning Atleta party-list Rep. Margarita Nograles belied claims that she gave money to fund the people’s initiative (PI) for Charter change (Cha-cha) signature drive.

“How could I give money, how could I mobilize people when I was out of the country?” Nograles said in posts on Instagram and Facebook, describing the allegations as a “fairy tale” and an “invention.”

House Assistant Majority Leader and Puwersa ng Bayaning Atleta party-list Rep. Margarita Nograles

Without naming names, Nograles challenged her accusers to file a case in court.

On Monday, the House of Representatives adopted a resolution expressing support for the leadership of House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez.

It said the Senate adopted a confrontational stance by accusing Romualdez and the members of the House of Representatives of engaging in a fraudulent people’s initiative campaign.

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Sen. Maria Imelda Josefa “Imee” Marcos challenged some members of the House of Representatives to be truthful on their stand on Cha-cha.

“Let’s get real. If their intention is to change the system of government, then be honest about it,” Marcos said in Filipino in a radio interview.

In response, House Majority Leader Manuel Jose “Mannix” Dalipe dared all 24 senators to reveal their stand on the issue.

The Senate Sub-Committee on Constitutional Amendments and Revision of Codes on February 5 tackled Resolution of Both Houses (RBH) 6 that seeks to review the economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution.

“Let’s not talk about economic matters as a disguise. We all know the intention is not about economic matters. Why not just openly admit what you want?” Marcos said.

The senator was skeptical about the assurance made by members of the House that they would adopt whatever Charter amendments the senators would approve.

“There would be no problem as long as it’s debated and done in the proper manner. Let’s not insult the Filipino people by constantly bribing them,” she added.

“I think they really want political amendments [to the Charter]. They were just hiding it from the public,” Sen. Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara said during a news conference.

Sen. Francis Joseph “Chiz” Escudero also dared Cha-cha proponents in the House of Representatives to admit that they were “truly behind the fake” people’s initiative for Cha-cha.

He said Dalipe’s challenge to senators to declare their position on Cha-cha is a case of “the pot calling the kettle black.”

“Why don’t they come out in the open, be accountable and admit to the public that they are truly the ones behind this pekeng (fake) people’s initiative instead of doing a striptease?” Escudero asked.

He challenged Dalipe and his allies to speak the truth.

“At first they said, ‘we have nothing to do with that.’ Then, they later said they are mere ‘facilitator but not orchestrator.’ And now, they have the nerve to say ‘we will stop the PI if they [senators] pass RBH 6,” Escudero said in a statement.

“It would bode well for them to heed their own speaker’s words when he quoted the saying, ‘People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones,'” he said.

Escudero said he and his fellow senators would bare their stand on Cha-cha at a proper time.

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