• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The call for a total overhaul of the House leadership continues to snowball, and Bacolod Lone District Representative Alfredo Abelardo Benitez has joined the bandwagon.
In the conduct of the House hearing on the flood control mess, Benitez said it appears that there was a cover up, noting that it took Navotas Rep. Toby Tiangco going to the Senate to present what he learned in the flood control project scandal.
Tiangco flagged a P13.8 billion insertion into the 2025 budget, allegedly by then House Appropriations Committee chair and Ako Bicol party-list Rep. Zaldy Co. The budget has been linked to numerous flood control projects.
“It has come to a point, that we really need to change the leadership, because of the distrust of the general public,” said Benitez, who led the distribution on Saturday of P2.3 million financial assistance to 256 families who lost their homes in a recent fire incident in Brgy. 27, Bacolod City.
Benitez and Tiangco are part of the independent bloc at the House of Representatives. They did not vote for Romualdez during the selection of speakership for the 20th Congress.
Regarding the call for Romualdez to step down as the House Speaker, Benitez said “It is just a matter of time that it will happen. For me, his (Romualdez) position is untenable. He has to make a supreme sacrifice.”
Cavite Rep. Francis Barzaga, who resigned from the National Unity Party (NUP) and the majority bloc in the House of Representatives, also called for an investigation into Romualdez, regarding anomalous flood control projects.
Benitez said he observed that almost all House members are silent on the issue, which he said is for obvious reasons. But the Bacolod solon said they are not deaf and blind on the issues against the House of Representatives.
Tiangco earlier threw his support behind Benitez for the Speakership, as he belongs to the independent bloc.
Benitez replied “that would be a collegial decision. Whatever the decision of the majority of his colleagues, they will follow.”
But we need a person that can cleanse the House. He has to have the credibility and integrity to bring those accountable to justice, the Bacolod solon said.
Benitez admitted that it appears he has committed a mistake in joining the 20th Congress, where all the scandals had surfaced, “since the people look at them as thieves and involved in anomalies.”
Whoever is in Congress right now feels the heat, he added.
“But it needs somebody, I’m not saying it’s me, to cleanse the dirt thrown at Congress and to turn around its public image,” Benitez said.
The son of Benitez, Negros Occidental Third District Rep. Javier Miguel Benitez, earlier said the leadership change all depends on the President and the House leaders.
“Congressman Albee will not push himself, if hindi gusto ng mga tao (if the people don’t want it). I think, where this is coming from, is also from other House members, who are feeling the need for change and stability,” the younger Benitez said.*
