ADMINISTRATION lawmakers yesterday questioned the inclusion of Speaker Martin Romualdez in the graft charges filed by Davao del Norte Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez and other leaders of the House of Representatives in connection with the alleged irregularities in this year’s national budget, saying the complaint did not even include a single senator who was a member of the bicameral conference panel that finalized the 2025 General Appropriations Bill (GAB).
Taguig City Rep. Amparo Maria Zamora pointed out the Speaker was not even part of the budget bicameral conference committee deliberations on the GAB.
“The Speaker isn’t even part of the bicam. So, sana po nilinaw po nila ‘yung kinasuhan nila. Kung tungkol talaga sa bicam ang kanilang kaso, hindi po parte ng bicam ang Speaker (They should have clarified who they were charging. If the case was really about the bicam, the Speaker was not part of the bicam),” she told a press conference.
Rep. Ramon Rodrigo Gutierrez (PL, 1-Rider) questioned why the complaint for alleged falsification and violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act (RA 3019) filed before the Office of the Ombudsman named Romualdez and other House members in relation to alleged insertion of expenditure items in the 2025 budget bill but did not even include a single senator who participated in the bicameral deliberations.
“If you also look at the cast of characters, bakit ‘yung House lang po yung respondents? (Why is that only House members are the respondents?),” he said. “These are just some questions that I think siguro dapat maitanong ng taumbayan (that the people should ask) in relation to the context of the filing of that case,” Gutierrez said.
The bicameral conference committee, composed of members from both the House and the Senate, is tasked with reconciling differences in their respective versions of the budget bill. The final version is then ratified by both chambers before being signed into law by the President.
Among the complainants in the Ombudsman complaint were former President Rodrigo Duterte’s political allies Davao del Norte Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez and senatorial aspirant Jimmy Bondoc, together with lawyer Ferdinand Topacio, Citizen’s Crime Watch president Diego Magpantay, and retired B/Gen. Virgilio Garcia.
They sought indictments for 12 counts each of falsification of legislative documents and graft against the House leadership.
Aside from Romualdez, also named respondents were Reps. Manuel Dalipe (Zamboanga City), Elizaldy Co (PL-Ako Bicol), Stella Quimbo (Marikina City), and John and Jane Does representing the Technical Working Group staff of the bicameral conference committee who are suspected to have done the actual insertion of the expenditure items and appropriations.
The complainants alleged that some insertions were not present in the report that was signed and approved by both House and Senate members of the bicameral panel.
Dalipe has said the complaint against the House leadership is obviously political, adding that the involvement of Alvarez, a Duterte ally, as one of the complainants is “more telling.”
Zamora said Alvarez has neither the legal nor moral right to file graft charges against Romualdez since he never raised the issues in the complaint during the budget deliberations at the House.
“It’s very ironic that Mr. Alvarez barely participated in the non-stop budget hearings that we’ve had for the 2025 budget, whether sa (in the) committee level or sa (in the) plenary. Wala naman siyang ni-raise na concern (He never raised a concern),” said Zamora, an assistant majority leader.
Gutierrez also questioned the timing and venue of Alvarez’s complaint, pointing out that that if the issue was genuinely about the law, it should have been raised earlier or filed before the Supreme Court.
He found it curious that the complaint was filed in a criminal venue rather than seeking clarification from the SC regarding legislative procedures.
“We stand by ‘yung sinabi po ng ating leadership, we stand by po ‘yung sinabi ni (the statement of) acting chair Quimbo na ginawa naman lahat ito with authority ng bicam (that everything was done with authority of the bicam),” Gutierrez said.
Quimbo has defended the budget process, saying that all amounts in the bicameral report were agreed upon before it was signed, and maintained that the 2025 budget is lawful and valid.
President Marcos Jr., himself, has assured the public that the 2025 GAA contains no blank entries as claimed by the Duterte camp.
