Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez delivers his message during the welcome lunch for the Philippine delegation to the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting 2024 at the Grandhotel Belvedere in Davos, Switzerland  on January 15, 2024, Monday (Switzerland time). Handout/House of Representatives/File

MANILA — House Speaker Martin Romualdez defended from critics on Monday the separate House investigations into Vice President Sara Duterte’s utilization of confidential funds, and the alleged killings in the Duterte administration’s drug war, saying these are all in aid of legislation, and seek to “ferret out the truth”.

The House probes were tagged by some critics as “politically motivated” and “in aid of prosecution”, which House leaders have denied.

“Syempre pinapakinggan natin lahat ng mga batikos, lahat ng mga criticisms ng mga kritiko… Pero ‘yung iba naman diyan, wala talagang halaga… negative talaga, walang positive na effect, so to speak. Gusto lang natin sabihin sa mga nagbabatikos sa atin, andito lang tayo para sa katotohanan. We just want the truth,” Romualdez said.

“Ito ‘yung venue natin where we can come out, and ferret out the truth, so that we can enact proper legislation, remedial legislation,” he stressed.

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The House Speaker said the committees will leave the prosecution of individuals, who may have violated laws, to the proper agencies.

“Moving forward, wala na sa kamay natin ‘yan, iiwan natin ang ebidensya, ang ating mga rekomendasyon sa prosecutorial agencies and departments of governments. So we leave it up to the DOJ, to the NBI, to the Ombudsman, and whoever is the best fit to pursue the prosecutorial initiatives, after we have already done our work,” Romualdez explained.

He also issued a warning to profiteers and unscrupulous rice traders, after the price of rice remained high despite the tariff cut on imported rice last July.

“Sa mga nagpa-profiteers diyan, ‘yung mga unscrupulous traders, wholesalers, retailers, bantay kayo, because the Quinta will go after you. The House will go after you. We will not allow this abuse to happen, lalu itong panahon ng Pasko. And moving forward, from the start of the year, we will be going full blast in making sure that we are one with the President, and making sure that food security is available, that there's rice that is affordable, quality rice at affordable food prices throughout the country’s available,” Romualdez said.

Some congressmen suspected “collusion” and “price manipulation”, after the rice tariff cut failed to significantly bring down retail prices months later.

During the Tuesday hearing of the House Quinta Committee, the Philippine Statistics Authority presented data showing that the retail price of regular well-milled rice in the country last November was at around P49.24 per kilo, just less than P2 lower than the P50.90 per kilo last July. The government had projected a P5 to P6 reduction in rice retail prices, after it slashed the tariff on imported rice from 35% to just 15%.

The government’s estimated forgone revenues from the rice tariff cut, however, exceed P13 billion for this year alone.