DAVAO del Norte Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez yesterday said his non-participation in the 2025 national budget deliberations last year did not give Speaker Martin Romualdez and other leaders of the House of Representatives the “license to commit crimes.”
Alvarez made the statement as he hit back at Taguig City Rep. Amparo Maria Zamora for saying that he neither has the legal nor moral right to file graft charges against Romualdez since he never raised the issues in the complaint he filed against the Speaker before the Office of the Ombudsman during the budget deliberations.
Alvarez was also reacting to House Majority Leader Manuel Jose Dalipe, one of the respondents in the complaint, who has said that the complaint filed with the Ombudsman was political, citing the involvement of the Davao del Norte solon, who is a staunch ally of former president Rodrigo Duterte.
“There is no such thing as legislative estoppel,” Alvarez said. “My non-participation in the hearings did not give Romualdez and company the license to commit crimes,” he stressed.
The complaint for alleged falsification and violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act (RA 3019) before the Office of the Ombudsman named Romualdez and other House members in relation to alleged insertion of expenditure items in the 2025 budget.
The complaint 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.
Aside from Romualdez and Dalipe, also named as respondents were Reps. Elizaldy Co (PL-Ako Bicol) and 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.
Among the complainants in the Ombudsman complaint, aside from Alvarez, were former President Rodrigo Duterte’s political allies senatorial aspirant Jimmy Bondoc, lawyer Ferdinand Topacio, Citizen’s Crime Watch president Diego Magpantay, and retired B/Gen. Virgilio Garcia.
Alvarez said House leaders, at times, think and act “as if they are the courts.” “Judicial power belongs to the court, and not to Congress,” he also said.
“Naiintindihan natin na minsan tingin ng Congress korte sila. Lasing sa kapangyarihan e (We understand that Congress sometimes think they are the court. It’s because they’re drunk with power),” he said, citing the penchant of members of the House quad committee to cite resource persons in contempt and order their detention.
The quad committee is investigating the extrajudicial killings of the Duterte administration’s drug war and the proliferation of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) facilities during the past government.
Alvarez said that contrary to Zamora’s claims, he could not participate in the bicameral deliberations because he is not a member of the panel which he is blaming for the alleged illegal insertions.
“Dagdag pa natin, paano ako makapag-participate, hindi ako member ng bicameral conference committee, ‘di ba? Doon sa bicam report ang problema, hindi sa NEP (National Expenditure Program), at hindi sa GAB (Let’s also add, how can I participate, I’m not a member of the bicameral conference committee, right? The problem is with the bicam report, not with the NEP and not with the General Appropriations Bill),” he said.
“Doon sa bicam report may blanks, rinatify ng Congress, tapos biglang may P241 bilyon ang ipinasok kahit hindi it apprubado ng Congress. Krimen yan, at may mga makukulong (The bicam report that was ratified by Congress had blank entries and suddenly, there was P241 billion inserted even if it was not approved by Congress. That’s a crime and someone’s going to jail),” he also said.
Alvarez, however, did not mention that he also did not question the matter on the floor before the bicameral-approved GAB was ratified by the House before it adjourned session for the Christmas break last month.
The bicameral panel, 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.
Alvarez also reacted to Rep. Ramon Rodrigo Gutierrez (PL, 1-Rider), who questioned the timing and venue of the 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.
Gutierrez has also pointed out that the complaint was only filed after the House of Representatives transmitted the Articles of Impeachment against Vice President Sara Duterte to the Senate for trial.
Alvarez however said he and fellow complainants only knew about the blank entries and insertions last January 18 when it was discovered by Davao City Rep. Isidro Ungab.
Reacting to Alvarez’s statements, Gutierrez accused the former of diverting the issue, saying that while he respects the right of his colleague from Davao del Norte and other individuals to file charges in connection with the budget insertions and budget blanks controversy, “I don’t agree with the mode and I don’t agree with the timing.”
“I mean, there was this doubt regarding that. But then for that response, I feel like the issue is being diverted again instead of answering it head on but then we respect it,” he said.
