House Special Committee on Bases Conversion Chairman Jay Khonghun yesterday called out former Agriculture Sec. Manny Piñol for criticizing the Marcos administration over the country’s current debt of P16.63 trillion, calling his remarks “brazen hypocrisy” and “a desperate ploy to rewrite history while campaigning for his political comeback.”
“Let’s set the record straight: It was under your boss, former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, when our country’s debt truly ballooned—with P7.2 trillion added in just six years. That’s more than the combined total debt of all Philippine presidents from Manuel Quezon to Benigno ‘Noynoy’ Aquino III over 89 years amounting to only P6.6-trillion. If there’s a ‘death burden,’ it was the one the Duterte administration created,” Khonghun, a House Assistant Majority Leader, said.
Piñol made the remarks during a campaign sortie in North Cotabato, where he is seeking to return as governor.
According to Khonghun, Piñol’s attempt to weaponize the country’s debt against the current administration is “laughably audacious,” given his controversial tenure in government.
“He presided over rice crises, proposed legalizing smuggling, bungled the bird flu outbreak, and was linked to questionable behavior in the Recto Bank incident. And now he wants to lecture us on responsible governance” Khonghun said.
The House leader pointed out that the Marcos administration inherited a fiscal landscape already strained by Duterte-era loans, many of which were granted blanket approval under the guise of pandemic response but with little congressional scrutiny or transparency.
“We in Congress are now pushing for reforms to make sure future administrations don’t recklessly mortgage our nation’s future the way it was done under Duterte,” Khonghun said.
“That includes investigating how the P7.2 trillion in loans was used, and whether the Filipino people truly benefited from that borrowed money,” Khonghun added.
House Deputy Majority Leader Janette Garin earlier called for a congressional inquiry into the P7.2-trillion debt, saying unchecked borrowing during the pandemic years severely reduced the country’s fiscal space.
“The truth is simple: the current government is paying for the sins of the past. The ones who bloated the debt are now acting like saints. It’s shameless,” Khonghun said.
