‘Accusations without proof mere noise’—Acidre

House Committee on Higher and Technical Education chairman and TINGOG party-list Rep. Jude Acidre (Courtesy: House of Representatives)

A lawmaker on Thursday called for fairness and due process amid the flood-control controversy being linked to former Speaker Martin Romualdez.

House Committee on Higher and Technical Education chairman and Tingog party-list Rep. Jude Acidre said accusations without proof are nothing more than “noise.”

“Accusations are easy to make. But without evidence, they are just noise,” Acidre said in a media interview.

He described the accusations against Romualdez as unfair and speculative.

Acidre said no document or testimony has directly implicated Romualdez in any wrongdoing.

“There is no evidence that directly imputes Martin Romualdez to all these controversies. I find it unfair that all of this is pure speculation. We cannot make judgments on the basis of speculations. You have to show evidence. Until such time that they are able to, I would rather that people hold their judgment on the person,” he said.

Acidre also rejected the notion that Romualdez should be held liable for alleged acts of former Ako-Bicol Rep. Elizaldy Co, who was implicated in the supposed flood-control fund irregularities.

“Even in the case of the appointments or the election of, or the designation of, or however you call it, of committee chairmanships, all those are actions not of the speaker, but actions of the plenary. And in the conduct of his duties, the Speaker never participates, never interferes,” he said.

Acidre, who earlier published an opinion column titled “What a Speaker Truly Means,” described Romualdez as “a listener” and “a leader who built influence through trust, not control.”

“Ask anyone who worked closely with him and they’ll tell you: Martin Romualdez is a listener. He doesn’t rush decisions… His influence didn’t come from control. It came from trust,” Acidre wrote in the piece.

Romualdez stepped down as Speaker, saying he did not want his position to “burden the House” or hinder the Independent Commission on Infrastructure (ICI) from performing its mandate freely and fully.

— Maricel Cruz