HOUSE LEADERS FACE GRAFT RAPS

HOUSE Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez and other lawmakers are facing graft charges before the Office of the Ombudsman over alleged insertions in the 2025 national budget.

The graft complaints were filed by allies of former President Rodrigo Duterte.

Duterte staunch ally and Davao del Norte Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez led the complainants in filing 12 counts of falsification of legislative documents and graft against Romualdez, House Majority Leader Manuel Jose Dalipe, Ako Bicol Rep. Elizaldy Co and Marikina 2nd District Rep. Stella Quimbo.

Alvarez was joined by lawyer Ferdinand Topacio, PDP-Laban senatorial bet Jimmy Bondoc, Citizens Crime Watch (CCW) president Diego Magpantay, and Virgilio Garcia in filing the complaint.

“Noong una ang sana inisip namin yung violation lang ng Revised Penal Code. Ngayon may nagsabi, sa daming nilabag na batas, bakit hindi natin i-file lahat ng kaso na pupwedeng i-file? Kaya napagdesisyunan na ng grupo na pumunta rin dito sa Offfice ng Ombudsman upang i-file ang mga kaso na nilabag nila sa Anti-Graft Law,” Alvarez told reporters after the filing.

“Kung merong kang ginawa na dehado ‘yung gobyerno at nawalan ‘yung gobyerno ay pupwede kang kasuhan. ‘Yung pasingit ng imagine P241 billion ang laking halaga ‘yan. Hindi mo pwedeng sabihin typographical error ‘yan na kinorek ng technical working group,” he added.

Meanwhile, administration lawmakers dismissed the charges as an attempt to divert attention from the impeachment case against Vice President Sara Duterte.

House Deputy Majority Leader and La Union 1st District Rep. Paolo Ortega said the complaint was “baseless,” while House Assistant Majority Leader and Zambales 1st District Rep. Jay Khonghun said it was “nothing more than a desperate move to discredit the impeachment process.”

According to the complainants they found 12 blanks in the budget that were filled up without authority by the respondents, ” materially altering the meaning of the legislative documents by turning zero pesos worth of blanks into 241 billion pesos.”

But Dalipe said the 2025 national budget had undergone thorough deliberations and scrutiny by Congress before it was transmitted to the President for final approval.

“The process adheres to the checks and balances enshrined in our Constitution, ensuring transparency, accountability, and fiscal responsibility,” he said.

“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 added.

President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. said there were no “blank items” in the 2025 national budget, adding he reviewed all “4,057 pages of it” before he signed it.

“I reviewed it, analyzed it, and yes—in parts, vetoed it. And up to now I can’t find those damned blank items,” the President said.