Romualdez rejects Roxas' challenge to take lie detector test

(Updated 7:28 p.m.) Tacloban City Mayor Alfred Romualdez on Wednesday rejected Interior Secretary Mar Roxas' challenge for both of them to take a lie detector test so the people may know who was telling the truth, a television report said.

In her report on “Balitanghali,” GMA's Claire Delfin quoted Romualdez as saying that what happened during his meeting with Roxas was caught in a video now circulating the internet.



Roxas on Tuesday offered to take a lie detector test with Romualdez to belie the mayor's allegation that the national government had tried to take over the city, and that the move failed to generate immediate aid to Typhoon Yolanda's victims there.

Romualdez, during the post-disaster assessment at the Senate on Monday, decried  Roxas' alleged effort to control the city and bring up clan politics instead of immediately sending help.

The mayor refused to name who took the video but said it was their standard procedure at the city hall to take a video during high-level meetings for documentation, and that he wanted to protect the safety of his staff, according to the television report.

A copy of the video was submitted to the office of Senator Bongbong Marcos, Romualdez's cousin. Marcos was also present during the hearing at the Senate.

Romualdez said his statements at the Senate were not meant to destroy Roxas, and that his only intention was to seek clarification on the law covering the issue.

Also, he said he would not have spoken about the issue if the Senate did not ask him to do so, the report said.

Romualdez also said politics should be set aside as his only concern is the city's rehabilitation. He said he wants to retire from politics when his term as mayor ends.

“Hindi naman ako nagsabi na may pulitika, sila naman nagsabi nun, hindi naman ako. Ang akin lang dyan basta tuloy tuloy ang trabaho ko. I was invited to the Senate to shed light and share my experiences in Tacloban City. Para naman sa ganun kung ano ang refinement o amendments na pwede gawin sa batas na yun ay magagawa,” he said.

He also thanked those who helped rebuild Tacloban City .

According to him, the city government received P12 million in cash assistance from different local government units, but none from international donors.

He said he made this clarification so his constituents would ask him where the foreign aid went.

“Mahigit P12 million ang natanggap collectively from different local governments. Ayoko naman banggitin because I dont have the list but I know for a fact that it is more than that. Natutuwa naman ako. Yung iba maliliit [ang ibinigay] pero galing sa maliliit na municipality sa Mindanao pa galing kaya talagang nakakataba ng puso.” — Amita O. Legaspi /LBG/BM, GMA News