Casiguran, Sorsogon Mayor Hamor denies being in-laws with Diokno

Casiguran, Sorsogon Mayor Jose Edwin Hamor on Tuesday denied that he is an in-law or "balae" of Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno.

Hamor made the remark during the resumption of the House Committee on Rules inquiry into the supposed anomalies in the 2019 national budget and the so-called flood control scam.

During the hearing, House Majority Leader Rolando Andaya, who chairs the panel, asked Hamor if he has seen Diokno before.

Hamor said that he had only seen the Budget secretary at a wedding.

"Ang tawag niya sa akin mayor. Pero hindi ko balae," Hamor admitted.

Andaya insists that Hamor is related to Diokno, considering that the mayor's wife is the mother-in-law of the Budget secretary's daughter, Charlotte.

Charlotte is the husband of Jojo Sicat, the son of Sorsogon Vice Governor Esther Hamor from her first marriage.

With this arrangement, Hamor said: "Mas lalong hindi ko kaano-ano si Diokno."

The House leader is insisting that these familial ties allow the company of Diokno's in-laws, Aremar Construction Corp., to be a favored contractor for the supposedly anomalous infrastructure projects in Sorsogon.

Andaya earlier said that based on their investigation, triple A contractors like the supposedly favored contractor CT Leoncio Construction and Trading are only used as front contractors, and that the contract for the infrastructure projects are actually given to Aremar Construction Corp.

Hamor said he established Aremar Construction Corp. to help his children in having a livelihood.

Hamor's daughter, Maria Minez, owns Aremar Construction Corp., but some of his children also serve as incorporators in the company.

Esther, however, also wanted her children from her first marriage to be included as part of Aremar Construction Corp., making Jojo Sicat as one of the incorporators.

But Hamor admitted that he already has divested his connections with Aremar.

In an earlier statement, Andaya said that at least four joint ventures have been agreed to between Aremar and CT Leoncio in Sorsogon.

These include the P49-million highway improvement for Aruman-Casiguran Road, the P96-million construction of Barcilona-Casiguran diversion road, the P115-million tourism road leading to Bulusan National Park, and the P289-million Daang Maharlika Section in the first district of Sorsogon --- all of which cost P550 million. — MDM, GMA News