TILA may planadong hakbang upang siraan si dating Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, kasunod ng paglabas ng mga ulat na nag-uugnay sa mambabatas ng Leyte sa mga kontrobersiya sa farm-to-market roads, sinabi ni Deputy Speaker Ronnie Puno nitong Lunes.

Aniya, “malungkot” at “terribly unfair” ang timing ng mga ulat, na lumabas isang araw bago ang boluntaryong pagharap ni Romualdez sa Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI), na tila may layuning siraan ang dating Speaker.

“I think malungkot ang timing kasi the former Speaker is going to speak before the Independent Commission tomorrow so parang may konting demolition na nangyayari dito,” pahayag ni Puno.

“There is scapegoating that is going on, nagtuturuan and then ah, people are pointing to other people so that they will be able to escape their responsibility. Ang sa akin lang follow the money, di ba? Anong nangyari sa insertion, sinong may kagagawan no’n, pagtapos no’n kanino napunta ‘yon,” dagdag ni Puno.

“So I think everybody should look at the evidence very carefully and be aware that there is scapegoating going on, na maraming mga efforts na sisihin ‘yong mga taong walang kinalaman,” sinabi pa ni Puno.

“So again, tingnan natin ano ‘yong mga insertions, saan napunta ‘yan, at sinong may kasalanan niyan. Instead of diverting into whatever thing that they could come up with to try to smear somebody,” punto ni Puno.

“Well, you will remember ako ‘yong unang bumanggit ng farm-to- market roads, ‘di ba? Na medyo ikinagalit no’ng ibang mga opisyal, who felt that we were intruding on their territory,” ayon kay Puno sa ambush interview.

“Yeah, we were the first one to say na merong mga abuses sa farm-to-market roads program,” dagdag niya.

Nilinaw niya na ang mga proyekto sa Leyte na tinutukoy sa ulat ay maliit at lehitimo, at dumaan sa pagsusuri ng Department of Agriculture (DA) at Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

“With respect to what was said today in the newspapers, particularly in one newspaper, I think, unang-una these were not very big projects,” ani Puno.

“Number two, I think that these things came about because of the DPWH and Department of Agriculture and it even passed the initial scrutiny of the Secretary of the Department of Agriculture, kasi kung maalala ninyo nagbanggit siya ng mga ghost projects, wala ito doon; nagbanggit siya ng mga substandard, wala pa rin ito do’n,” sinabi pa ni Puno.

“So I don’t know where that report came from about the Leyte farm-to-market roads and by the way, farm-to-market road does not only mean rice, it means farm. So kung anuman ang produce in the place, it merits and deserves farm-to-market road,” paliwanag ni Puno.

Ayon kay Puno, ang mga pag-atake kay Romualdez ay nagpapakita ng “lynch-mob mentality” at pagtatangkang ilihis ang pansin mula sa tunay na may sala sa mga kuwestyunableng insertion.

“So there is all of these destructions that are being created and I’m sensing a lynch-mob mentality trying to pin the Speaker alone to all of the things that have happened which is terribly unfair,” babala niya.

Pinuna rin ni Puno ang kakulangan ng balanse sa media coverage, at sinabing hindi man lang hiningan ng komento ang mga inaakusahan bago lumabas ang ulat.

“Kasi isipin ninyo ma-front-page ka, the publication that came out is of course one of my main reading material everyday but normally kung merong mga ganyan lalabas ka sa front-page you will be asked for a reply or to comment,” aniya.

“I did not see that there was any request from the accused party to reply and number two, you could have asked the people that are directly involved with it, the district engineer, the provincial agriculturists, nobody bothered to ask them,” dagdag pa niya.

Binanggit niya na naglabas ng pahayag ang mga involved dito upang ipagtanggol ang proyekto, ngunit huli na dahil kumalat na ang paniniwalang may mali.

“So humabol pa sila ng mga statements nila justifying the projects, ‘di ba? But now hindi na nakalat na ‘yan na there is something wrong even when all the people involved in these things are now saying that there was nothing wrong with these projects,” sinabi ni Puno.

Hinimok ni Puno ang media at publiko na maging mapanuri at kilalanin ang pagkakaiba ng opinyon sa katotohanan sa gitna ng tinatawag niyang “negative propaganda.”

“Sana in the coming weeks, months, sana we will be very careful about what we accept as news when there is an allegation, let us make sure that these are properly based on real facts, not opinion,” aniya.

“Kasi ang nangyayari ngayon opinion is being presented as fact eh. And I think that is unfair to so many people,” pahayag ni Puno.

Muli niyang iginiit ang tiwala sa proseso ng ICI, ngunit nagbabala na may mga taong posibleng sangkot na maaaring magtangkang ibunton ang sisi sa iba.

“Buo ‘yong tiwala natin siyempre sa ICI pero siyempre meron silang mga iniimbitahan na baka makasuhan din na gagawa ng paraan para matutok ‘yong problema sa ibang tao at hindi sa kanila,” giit ni Puno.

Sa huli, pinaalalahanan ni Puno ang publiko na suriin nang mabuti ang ebidensiya at huwag hayaang maapektuhan ng disimpormasyon ang paghusga.