House Deputy Speaker and Antipolo City 1st District Representative Ronaldo Puno has responded to the recent remarks of Cavite 4th District Representative Kiko Barzaga regarding the ethics complaint he is currently facing before the House of Representatives.
In an interview with the media, Puno clarified that the ethics complaint he filed against Barzaga aims to uphold a “standard of behavior” among lawmakers in Congress.
“We filed an ethics complaint because we want a standard of behavior established in Congress,” Puno said.
Puno also hit back at Barzaga’s earlier statement claiming he did nothing wrong.
“We should remind him of standard human behavior. He does not believe he did anything wrong because obviously his standards are much lower than the average person,” the Deputy Speaker added.
He further stressed that Barzaga’s conduct is unbecoming of a member of the House.
“I think maybe he should be given a lesson by the Ethics Committee. That kind is not desirable, it is not acceptable especially if you’re a member of the House of Representatives,” Puno stated.
It can be recalled that Puno filed the ethics complaint in September, following Barzaga’s consecutive tirades on social media against former House Speaker and Leyte 1st District Representative Ferdinand Martin Romualdez and the Marcos administration.
“I want that very clear, hindi namin hinahabol si Representative Barzaga, even the Speaker does not want us to do what we are proposing to do,” Puno said in a press conference last September 15.
“But we are going to do this because we feel responsible for what has happened dahil nga miyembro ng partido namin ‘yan. I signed a certificate for nomination and acceptance for him, and we want him to be held to account for this,” he added.
For his part, Barzaga said he remains unfazed by the ethics complaint, asserting that he has been ready for any consequence since he decided to challenge Romualdez.
“I’m ready for anything. When it all started, when I fought against Romualdez, I was fully expecting to die, but kung sanctions lang naman edi that’s much better than dying,” Barzaga said on Monday.