House leader insists familial ties of Diokno with Casiguran Mayor Hamor

House Majority Floor Leader Rolando Andaya, Jr. called out on Monday the supposed 'intellectual dishonesty' of Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno for insisting that he was not related to Casiguran town mayor Jose Edwin Hamor.

"Sec. Diokno's intellectual dishonesty is really unbelievable. His play of words, fantastic. In media interviews today, Sec. Diokno kept on insisting that he is not related to Mayor Jose Edwin Hamor of Casiguran, Sorsogon. Hindi raw niya ito balae," Andaya said in a statement.

The solon said that Diokno's daughter Charlotte Justine was married to Romeo "Jojo" Sicat Jr. who is the son of Vice Governor Ester Hamor in her first marriage.

Vice Gov. Ester is now married to Mayor Jose Edwin Hamor.

Andaya has previously claimed that Aremar Construction, owned by the Maria Minez Hamor—daughter of Mayor Hamor—has received government projects as a favor from Diokno.

The Hamors earlier denied the allegations.

Nonetheless, Andaya said that the familial ties of Diokno with the Hamors were crystal clear.

"Malinaw ang relasyon ni Sec. Diokno kay Vice Gov. Ester at Mayor Jose Edwin. Magbalae sila," he said.

Andaya went on to say, that Diokno's daughter has somehow gained interests from the supposedly favored contractor that received at least P550 million in flood control projects allocated by the Department of Budget Management for Sorsogon in 2018.

"I can understand why Sec. Diokno is trying to confuse the public. The House investigation has established that Sec. Diokno's son-in-law with Charlotte Justine, Romeo "Jojo" Sicat Jr., is an incorporator of Aremar Construction Corp. Bilang asawa, kabahagi rin si Charlotte sa share ni Jojo Sicat sa Aremar," Andaya said.

Furthermore, the congressman pointed out that another P385 million was allocated by Diokno in the 2019 budget for flood projects in a town in Sorsogon which is not flood-prone.

Diokno previously refuted the allegations of Andaya and called them illusory.

“His accusations are illusory. The numbers are wrong and the narrative he’s selling is not grounded on facts,” Diokno said in a statement. —Dona Magsino/ LDF, GMA News