00:00Congressmen defended House Speaker Martin Ruvaldez after he was charged and his personality was revealed in Ombudsman regarding the 2025 National Budget.
00:10This is what Mela Lesmora said.
00:15If you ask me, this is just a clear diversion from the issues.
00:19If you think about it, they have been discussing the budget for a long time.
00:22Why did they decide to file cases after the impeachment was transmitted to the Senate?
00:30So clearly, there is an effort to downplay the move of the House to transmit the impeachment to the Senate
00:40and also divert the attention of our countrymen regarding the real issue that should be answered by the other camp.
00:50This is what House Assistant Majority Leader Jude Asidre said after filing a complaint of falsification of public documents
00:58and violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act by House Speaker Martin Ruvaldez
01:03and others in the Office of the Ombudsman regarding the 2025 National Budget.
01:08Asidre was so eager to file a complaint that it seems like they are just trying to divert the attention of the impeachment against Vice President Sara Duterte.
01:18This is also the view of the Young Guns Singles group on the issue.
01:22House Deputy Majority Leader Paolo Ortega said that there is no basis for the complaint
01:27so I hope that the House Leader will not make a hole in the issue.
01:31House Assistant Majority Leader Jay Cong Hun called this move a desperate move by the opposition.
01:38According to the House Committee on Justice Vice Chair Jervie Luistro,
01:42even though each person is free to file any complaint,
01:45it is only when the Filipino people are present that the House Leader thinks about every resolution that they pass.
01:54Well, what I can say about the Speaker,
01:59what he is thinking about is the well-being of the Filipino people.
02:05This is the freedom of each person to resort to the legal remedies.
02:13But I just want to manifest to express that as a member of the majority bloc,
02:19that is CLACAS-CMD, which is the majority bloc in the House of Representatives, the 19th Congress of the Philippines.
02:28I can personally say that all the legislative actions of the 19th Congress through the leadership of the Speaker
02:37are anchored on uplifting the lives of Filipino citizens.
02:41As of now, the House Prosecution Panel is still preparing for the long-awaited impeachment trial against the Vice President,
02:49even though there is no final decision as to when it will start.
02:53Melalez Moras for Pambansang TV in Bagong, Philippines.
