Rep. Jose Franciso “Kiko” Benitez (Neg. Occ., 3rd District) expressed his unequivocal support to the House of Representatives and its leadership on Tuesday, October 17, amid recent attacks.
Benitez said the House, under the leadership of Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, has been very productive, passing 20 priority bills on final reading ahead of the target set by the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council.
“United under Speaker Romualdez, the House has delivered, and will continue to deliver for the Filipino people,” he said.
“We will not be distracted by cyber-attacks and will continue to abide by the findings of the Commission on Audit in performing our mandate to serve the Filipino people. Because the House of Representatives is the House of the People, the House is as resilient and unrelenting as the Filipino people”, Benitez added.
Former president Rodrigo Duterte called the House of Representatives the “most rotten institution” in the country after his daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte, was stripped of her confidential funds for next year.
The House of Representatives is in agreement with Duterte that government expenditures should be transparent and fully auditable, Rep. Reginald Velasco, House secretary general, said.
“The House has no confidential and intelligence funds. All line items in our budget are subject to regular accounting and auditing rules and regulations,” Velasco said.
The COA report released on October 2 states that the House of Representatives has no disallowances, no notice of suspension and no notice of charge, he added.
Meanwhile, he said the House is working closely with the Department of Information and Communications Technology and law enforcement agencies to investigate the recent hacking of its website.
“We are committed to ensure the security and integrity of our digital platforms, and we will implement additional measures to prevent such incidents in the future,” Velasco said.
He advised the public to be cautious of any suspicious emails or communications that claim to be from the House of Representatives.*