After yielding to mounting pressure from civil society groups and the Opposition People’s National Party (PNP) to step aside as House Speaker, Marisa Dalrymple-Philibert says the circumstances of the omission of a motor car from her statutory declaration could have happened to anyone in the political directorate or public service.

On Thursday, September 21, Dalrymple-Philibert tendered her resignation as House Speaker and member of parliament for South Trelawny, which also took effect on Thursday.

Her resignation comes in light of an Integrity Commission report in which she is being accused of falsifying her statutory declarations to exclude a 2015 Mercedes Benz GLA 250 from the document.

“I have, over the past two days, read the Integrity Commission’s report detailing the circumstances of the omission of a motor vehicle from my statutory declaration and have taken note of the public sentiments on this issue. Nowhere in the entire report, has the Integrity Commission raised any question or concern about the source of funding of the vehicle, which was purchased through a loan from Sagicor Bank. The vehicle was never sold or transferred to anyone in the past seven years, although there was nothing preventing me from doing so after the three-year mandatory restriction lifted,” Dalrymple-Philibert said in a statement on Thursday.

She further blamed the omission of the vehicle from her statutory declaration as a ‘genuine oversight’.

“What has happened to me, could have happened to any other member of parliament, public servant or civil servant. As a woman maintaining a family and as a member of parliament, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and managing partner of a law firm, the toll that it has taken on me is immense,” she said.

Dalrymple-Philibert insisted that her decision to step down as member of parliament and House Speaker is voluntary and has not been at the request of anyone.

“I must without reservation thank the people of South Trelawny for their unwavering support of me during this period and for returning me as their member of parliament on four consecutive occasions. Their support and love have kept me strong through my political journey. However, the present circumstances are completely contrary to my own personal principles and beliefs, which I have always lived by,” she said.

Having resigned from the government service, the long-time parliamentarian said that she is looking forward to the trial of the matter for which the director of public prosecution has ruled that she must be charged.