A COMPLAINT for alleged falsification and violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act (RA 3019) were filed before the Office of the Ombudsman yesterday against Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez and other members of the House of Representatives in relation to alleged insertion of expenditure items in the 2025 budget bill.
Among the complainants 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 personnel of the Technical Working Group of the bicameral conference committee who are suspected to have done the actual insertion of the expenditure items and appropriations.
“We named Speaker Romualdez as principal respondent as the head of the House of Representatives, Majority Leader Manuel Dalipe, Congresswoman Quimbo and former appropriations committee chairman Zaldy Co. There are others we will still have to identify later who made the insertions acting under the instructions of the named respondents,” Topacio told reporters.
Topacio said there were 12 counts of each charge because, based on their review of the budget documents, there were 12 instances where figures were intercalated.
“What the bicam approved was zero, so when the document arrived on the President’s desk, that should have stayed zero. Hindi pwedeng palitan ‘yun unless may typographical error, maling spelling, misspelling o wrong grammar. Hindi pwedeng ilagay yung zero, gagawin mong 90 billion o 80 billion o kahit 10,000 pesos,” he added.
The complainants said that any changes on the bicameral report should have been submitted to the plenary for ratification.
“The logic is simple: Congress acts as a collective body, and the authority to initiate and approve a national budget, which includes assigning amounts for appropriations, belongs not to the bicam, not to any Technical Working Group, and definitely not to any person or persons regardless of their position, power, or influence in Congress,” they said.
Dalipe 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.”
“The mere fact that only the House has been impleaded in the complaint raises serious questions about the true intent behind these allegations. The budget process is a shared responsibility, yet the focus on one chamber alone suggests a deliberate effort to mislead the public and cast doubt on the integrity of the House’s work,” he said.
Alvarez said he was expecting the House leadership to shrug off the complaint as a political propaganda.
“Karamihan naman ‘pag wala nang masabing iba, sasabihin lang ‘politika lang ito,’ eh lahat naman nang nangyayari parte ng politika ‘yan. Sa akin naman, ang kawawa dito ‘yung mga empleyado na napag-utusan,” he said.
Dalipe said that as a sitting member of the House during the deliberations of the 2025 General Appropriations Bill (GAB), Alvarez “had every opportunity to raise objections, question allocations, and point out any supposed infirmities during plenary discussions.”
“Yet, he did not. His silence during the legislative process, and his sudden emergence as a complainant, only reinforces the fact that these accusations are not grounded on actual violations but are politically motivated attacks meant to discredit the House leadership,” he said.
Dalipe said the approval of the 2025 GAB “is not an act of wrongdoing but a constitutional duty of Congress,” stressing that the national budget is the “lifeblood” of government operations, ensuring the delivery of essential services and the implementation of vital projects for the Filipino people.
“Passing the national budget is not a crime; it is a fundamental responsibility of Congress. Any attempt to portray it otherwise is a clear distortion of facts and an attack on the legislative process itself. Instead of engaging in political distractions, we must focus on ensuring that the 2025 budget is fair, responsive, and effectively serves the needs of the Filipino people,” he said.
He also said the accusations “come at a time when the House is taking a firm stand on accountability, particularly in addressing serious questions surrounding certain budgetary allocations.”
“The timing and nature of these attacks against the House raise suspicions that they are merely retaliatory tactics aimed at deflecting attention from the real issue: the proper and lawful use of taxpayer money,” he added.
“The House of Representatives remains committed to upholding its constitutional mandate, ensuring that every peso in the national budget is spent wisely and for the benefit of the nation. We will not be swayed by political theatrics meant to divert attention from the real issues of transparency and accountability,” Dalipe also said.
Rep. Jude Acidre (PL, Tingog), a lawyer, questioned the timing of the filing of the complaint, saying it was done amid the impeachment case against Vice President Sara Duterte.
“Kaduda-duda lang na bakit matagal na nilang pinag-uusapan, e ngayon lang nila napagdesisyunang mag-file ng cases kung kailan ay katatapos lang mag-file, ma-transmit ang Articles of Impeachment sa Senado (It’s suspicious that while they’ve long been talking about it, it’s only now that they’ve decided to file cases right after the Articles of Impeachment were filed, transmitted to the Senate),” he said.
Acidre said the complaint “has no leg to stand on,” saying the House has already answered the issue about the blank entries in the bicameral level-approved version of the 2025 General Appropriations Act (GAA).
Quimbo, acting chair of the appropriations panel, has confirmed the presence of blanks but clarified that funding for these items had been identified before the signing of the report.
“Yes. Notwithstanding any typographical errors or any adjustments that are needed as a result of amendments, ay authorized naman po ang technical staff ng both House and Senate to make all of these necessary corrections,” Quimbo earlier said. – With Wendell Vigilia
