THROUGHOUT the colored history of Philippine democracy, few political careers have had the same hue and luster as that of former House speaker and Leyte 1st District Rep. Martin Romualdez. To begin with, he wasn’t elected for nothing as the head of the House of Representatives twice. At the time of his second speakership, his landslide ascendancy was a finely honed masterclass in nuanced statecraft and pragmatic diplomacy. At present, while he may have stepped down with humility and a sincere demonstration of largesse, he has retained the tacit respect and admiration of his peers as a leader with the rare ability to steer, consolidate, and deliver tangible and substantial results.
Despite his accomplishments, capabilities and character, his name has been dragged in the metaphorical mud that was dredged up by the hated flood-control scandal. While, indeed, the reported gross anomalies and inadequacies involving flood-control projects of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) have been hateful, these were not a license for slander, scapegoating and trial by media of a public personality simply because he was then-speaker of the House, a congressman and a Romualdez.
The sins of the many were not the sins of all, or else, the first speaker of the First Philippine Assembly, Sergio Osmeña; all the constituents of the 1st District of Leyte; and all the ancestors of the Romualdez clan from Don Daniel Romualdez Sr., the patriarch, to Norberto Romualdez Sr., the “Father of the Law on the National Language,” were guilty as hell.
But the sole hallmark of guilt was evidence, and not a single shred of it — of the crucial differentiator of fact from gossip — was presented at any credible forum by any legal body. Not a single contract or peso has been linked, beyond a shadow of a doubt, to Romualdez.
These were the indisputable facts: Each year, the Philippines was lashed by an average of 20 typhoons, which ravaged homes, devastated communities and claimed lives; The House of Representatives has legislated funds for flood-control projects; Martin Romualdez was trusted by his fellow representatives to be House speaker twice; and because some DPWH contractors failed to properly utilize the flood-control funds, the Philippines continued to have ravaged homes, devastated communities and lives claimed.
On the other hand, these were the unproven and unfair rumors: Martin Romualdez caused the typhoons and other Acts of God; Romualdez pocketed the money from the flood-control projects because he didn’t have any financial resources of his own; He hypnotized all the congressmen into making him the speaker of the House two times; and by failing to build flood-control projects with his own hands, he ravaged homes, devastated communities and took the lives of Filipinos.
See how silly that sounded when said out loud instead of being whispered from Marites to Marites? The sins of the many were not the sins of all, and the sins of Acts of God and of lawless lawmakers were not the sins of Martin Romualdez. And yet, despite his imaginary sins and, therefore, spotless reputation, Romualdez has stepped down from being the fourth-highest public official in the country in a generous display of delicadeza (propriety) in order to facilitate the investigation of his consistently transparent actions and his undimmed integrity.
Biblical judgments
Speaking of sins, didn’t one biblical passage of the beloved apostle imply that those who were provably guilty should not cast a stone or hurl blame? How then does this apply to all the vice presidents of the Republic of the Philippines?
For example, accusations have been hurled at Vice President Sara Duterte, regarding questionable intelligence funds as well as flagged disbursements during her tenure as secretary of the Department of Education. Has she refrained from rumormongering about the Romualdezes and their close kin, the Marcoses? Has she stepped down to facilitate the clearing of her name? And has she freely disclosed her assets and bank accounts to show the transparency of her transactions?
Were these the actions of a public official with propriety, integrity and delicadeza? Were these the actions befitting the second-highest public official in the Philippines?
Weren’t there other biblical passages that alluded to bad company ruining good morals and wise men suffering harm when walking with fools? These passages essentially meant the same as that of birds of the same feather flocking together, which begged the question: With what kind of feather did Vice President Sara Duterte flock? Well, there was her father, disgraced former president Rodrigo Roa Duterte, who was incarcerated by the International Criminal Court on charges related to extrajudicial killing. There was also, among others in her inner circle, her brother, Davao 1st District Rep. Paolo “Pulong” Duterte, who had an unprecedented budget allocation for a single lawmaker of P51 billion as confirmed by the DPWH.
Ditching the biblical in favor of the proverbial — since this discussion has been about political delicadeza in the face of accusations of misappropriating public funds — one could misappropriate the idiom, “What’s good for the goose is good for the gander,” to refer to the House speaker that stepped down and the vice president that continued to hang on to power by her fingernails. The two leaders needed to both step down, comply with all transparency requirements and be subjected to the same kind of factual scrutiny.
While tempers have been, clearly, flaring over flood-control controversies, Filipinos needed to rise above the proverbial mud, maintain an even temperament and stick to the facts that doused the flames of rumormongering. In the same temperament, the people needed to read the tale of the tape coldly and weigh in soberly on the evidence about the above-mentioned two leaders. Regarding the mudslinging surrounding the two leaders, only the truth and evidence would stick, while the lies would wash off evidently.
After all, the rumor of storms and politicians would come and go with the seasons, but the evidence of propriety and integrity echoed through eternity. — Renata Roberto
