The speaker of the House of Representatives tendered his resignation after his name surfaced in a mounting corruption scandal, less than two weeks after the country’s Senate president suffered the same fate.
Martin Romualdez, a cousin of President Ferdinand Marcos, told lawmakers he was leaving the post with a “clear conscience”.
Public anger over so-called ghost infrastructure projects has been intensifying since Marcos put them centre stage in a July state of the nation address following weeks of deadly flooding.
Thousands are expected to turn out in Manila on Sunday for a “Trillion Peso March”, named for a Greenpeace estimate of US$17.6bil (RM73.8bil) in funds allegedly bilked from climate-related projects since 2023.
“The issues surrounding certain infrastructure projects have raised questions that weigh not only upon me, but upon this institution we all serve,” Romualdez said Wednesday at the House of Representatives.
“The longer I stay, the heavier that burden grows,” he said, before formally tendering his resignation.
Barely an hour later, Faustino Dy, a longtime Marcos ally with a relatively low political profile, was elected as the new House speaker without opposition.
Last week, the owners of a construction firm accused nearly 30 House members and Department of Public Works and Highways officials of taking cash payments.
Romualdez was mentioned as someone who had approved funding that did not require House oversight.
In a morning interview with local radio, Congressman Ronaldo Puno said Romualdez had told lawmakers the controversy was “too much” and that he planned to “step aside to face these allegations”. — AFP
