KINONDENA ni House special committee on bases conversion chairman Jay Khonghun ng Zambales si dating Agriculture Secretary Manny Piñol kaugnay ng pagbatikos nito sa administrasyong Marcos dahil umabot na sa P16.63 trilyon ang utang ng bansa.

Tinawag ni Khonghun na “brazen hypocrisy” ang tangka ni Piñol na baluktutin ang katotothanan at ginagamit ito upang siya ay makabalik sa politika.

“Let’s set the record straight: it was under your boss, former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, when our country’s debt truly ballooned—with P7.2 trillion added in just six years. That’s more than the combined total debt of all Philippine presidents from Manual Quezon to Benigno ‘Noynoy’ Aquino III over 89 years amounting to only P6.6-trillion. If there’s a ‘death burden,’ it was the one the Duterte administration created,” ayon kay Khonghun, na siya ring Assistant Majority Leader ng Kamara.

Ang maling impormasyon ay ipinahayag ni Piñol sa isang campaign sortie sa North Cotabato, kung saan kumakandidato itong gobernador.

Ayon kay Khonghun, ang pagtatangka ni Piñol na gamiting isyu ang utang panlabas ng bansa laban sa kasalukuyang administrasyon ay nakakatawa lalo na at may mga isyu siyang kinaharap noong siya ay nasa gobyerno.

“He presided over rice crises, proposed legalizing smuggling, bungled the bird flu outbreak, and was linked to questionable behavior in the Recto Bank incident. And now he wants to lecture us on responsible governance,” ayon kay Khonghun.

Binigyang-diin ng lider ng Kamara na ang administrasyong Marcos ay nagmana ng isang mahirap na kalagayang pinansyal dahil sa mga utang na iniwan sa panahon ni Duterte, kung saan karamihan sa mga ito ay inaprubahan nang walang masusing pagsusuri at transparency at ginamit na dahilan ang pandemya.

“We in Congress are now pushing for reforms to make sure future administrations don’t recklessly mortgage our nation’s future the way it was done under Duterte,” giit ni Khonghun.

“That includes investigating how the P7.2 trillion in loans was used, and whether the Filipino people truly benefited from that borrowed money,” dagdag pa ng kongresista.

Nauna rito ay nanawagan si House Deputy Majority Leader Janette Garin sa pagsasagawa ng imbestigasyon ng Kongreso tungkol sa P7.2-trilyong inutang ng administrasyong Duterte, at sinabi niyang ang walang kontrol na pangungutang noong panahon ng pandemya ay lubhang nakaapekto sa pinansyal na kapasidad ng bansa.

“The truth is simple: the current government is paying for the sins of the past. The ones who bloated the debt are now acting like saints. It’s shameless,” ani Khonghun.

Dagdag pa ng kongresista, “Before pointing fingers, look in the mirror. You resigned in disgrace. And you still owe the Filipino people answers—not lectures.”