After making an appearance at a rally outside Forbes Park, Makati City on Sunday evening, October 12, Cavite Fourth District Representative Francisco “Kiko” Barzaga showed up late to his own ethics hearing at the House of Representatives on Monday morning, October 13.
The hearing held by the House Committee on Ethics and Privileges seeks to determine whether Barzaga should be punished on a complaint filed by the National Unity Party (NUP) regarding his “potentially” seditious Facebook posts and “acts contrary to law, good morals, customs, and public policy.”
On Saturday, October 11, the 27-year-old congressman called for an “Anti-Marcos protest” at Forbes Park’s Buendia gate. “Unfortunately, the mass protests in September did not affect the Marcos administration,” he said in a Facebook video. “We will be protesting on the front doors of the greedy and corrupt. We will deliver the people’s anger right at their doorstep.” On Sunday, he showed up at other anti-administration rallies at Rajah Sulayman Park in Malate, Manila, and near Dasmariñas Village in Makati.
In response to Barzaga’s call for protests, police officers with riot shields were positioned outside the exclusive village’s gates. McKinley Road, which provides access to Forbes Park and Dasmariñas Village, was also blocked off by police.
Barzaga left the NUP in September shortly after Chairman Ronaldo Puno accused him of attempting to oust Leyte First District Rep. Martin Romualdez from his seat as House speaker, a position he no longer holds. The NUP then filed an ethics complaint alleging that Barzaga’s several Facebook posts about other government officials “potentially” incite to sedition.
The complaint accuses the neophyte legislator of not acting in a manner that reflects creditably on the House; engaging in acts contrary to law, good morals, customs, and public policy; conduct that incites seditious activity; and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service and unbecoming of a member of Congress.
He is the son of Dasmariñas City Mayor Jennifer “Jenny” Austria-Barzaga and the late former Cavite Fourth District Rep. Elpidio Barzaga Jr., and the brother of Dasmariñas Vice Mayor Elpidio “Third” Barzaga III.
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