Former Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Benhur Abalos on Thursday denied the accusations of Cavite 4th District Rep. Francisco Kiko Barzaga that he and his nephew, 4Ps Party-list Rep. Jonathan Clement ‘JP’ Abalos, are involved in flood-control anomalies.
‘Dear Congressman Kiko Barzaga, I wish to clarify that during my tenure as Secretary of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), I had no involvement in any flood control projects. Furthermore, my nephew, Congressman JC Abalos, was not involved in any such undertakings,’ the older Abalos said in a social media post.
Abalos then pointed out that Barzaga ‘hurled unfounded and malicious accusations’ against them after the Cavite congressman failed to appear at an Ethics Committee headed by Cong. Abalos. During the Ethics Committee panel, Rep. Abalos discussed the possibility of Barzaga’s expulsion from Congress and prompted an inquiry into the Cavite representative’s alleged misconduct.
The ex-DILG secretary also gave advice to Barzaga, saying: ‘As public servants, our foremost responsibility is to the people. It would be proper to address the issues being discussed in the committee instead of resorting to baseless accusations.’
Abalos wished in prayer that Barzaga be ‘guided in the actions [he] will undertake moving forward.’ Through a video posted on social media on October 14, Barzaga accused the Abalos family of corruption and called for an investigation into them.
He alleged that Rep. Abalos has ‘plenty of involvement with the 2024 flood control budget anomalies.’
Barzaga also cited that Benhur Abalos was the DILG secretary ‘during the time when hundreds of billions of pesos were stolen from local DPWH projects.’ ‘I call for the investigation on the possible corruption of the Abalos family and their imprisonment if found guilty,’ he added.