Jauhn Etienne Villaruel

Speaker Martin Romualdez. Yummie Dingding, PPA pool/File

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Martin

Paige Javier

ABS-CBN News

<div><br/></div><p>MANILA — Davao del Norte Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez on Monday filed graft complaints against Speaker Martin Romualdez and other lawmakers at the Office of the Ombudsman over alleged insertions in the 2025 national budget. </p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/2/9/lawmakers-possible-complaint-on-alleged-2025-budget-insertions-diversionary-tactics-1614">Lawmakers: Possible complaint on alleged 2025 budget insertions &#x27;diversionary tactics&#x27;</a></div><div><strong></strong><br/></div><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display:flex;max-width:550px;width:100%;margin-top:10px;margin-bottom:10px"><iframe id="twitter-widget-0" scrolling="no" frameBorder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-0&amp;features=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%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1888780226030866443&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fod2-workbench-web.abs-cbn.com%2F%23%2Fworkspace%2Fmonitoring%3Fitem%3Durn%3Anewsml%3Aod2-workbench-api.abs-cbn.com%3A2025-02-10T02%3A29%3A56.361367%3A365a8ef7-1237-47e5-8ec9-bf8947eec183%26action%3Dedit&amp;sessionId=77e88732385f5074d51014fe11f287f39db7529d&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&amp;width=550px" style="position:static;visibility:visible;width:413px;height:618px;display:block;flex-grow:1" data-tweet-id="1888780226030866443"></iframe></div><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charSet="utf-8"></script><div><br/></div><p>Alvarez, lawyer Ferdinand Topacio of Citizen&#x27;s Crime Watch, Senate aspirants Jimmy Bondoc and Raul Lambino, and lawyer Virgilio Garcia filed 12 counts of falsification of legislative documents and graft against Romualdez, Majority Leader Manuel Dalipe, and House budget leaders Stella Quimbo and Zaldy Co.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/1/30/marcos-asserts-can-t-find-those-damned-blank-items-in-2025-budget-1140">Marcos asserts &#x27;can&#x27;t find those damned blank items&#x27; in 2025 budget</a></div><p>The complaint cited alleged insertions worth P241 billion in the national budget.</p><p>&quot;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 napag-decision na ng grupo na pumunta rin dito sa Offfice ng Ombudsman upang i-file ang mga kaso na nilabag nila sa anti-graft law,&quot; Alvarez told reporters after the filing.</p><p>&quot;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 cinnorect ng technical working group,&quot; he added.</p><p>Explaining why they filed 12 counts for falsification of legislative documents, Topacio said: &quot;Twelve times po nilang pinunuan yung mga blanks. Yun po ang in-approve ng Bicam ay zero, nakalagay zero. Dapat po yun, pagdating sa Presidente ay zero din.&quot;</p><p>&quot;Hindi pwedeng ilagay ang zero, gawin mong P90B or P80B o kahit P10,000 hindi pwedeng gawin yan kahit peso nga, basta zero. So 12 times namin nabilang na may insertion ang singit,&quot; the lawyer said.</p><p>Two other respondents, one &quot;John Doe&quot; and &quot;Jane Doe&quot; were also named as respondents.</p><p>&quot;May mga kasama po diyan na hindi pa namin na-identify na palagay namin ay kasama sa technical working group acting under the instructions of the named respondents. Kasi ginawa din nila. So they have to justify kung kanilang in-insert under the directions na ito ay lawful na instructions. Kasi kung unlawful ang instructions ay liable din po sila,&quot; Topacio said.</p><p>Alvarez shared why only House members were included in the complaints.</p><p>&quot;Nandoon yung crime na nangyari…. Kung sa Senado, siguro naman kung Office of the Ombudsman, pwede naman sila magpatawag doon sa Senado,&quot; he said.</p><p>Topacio said that when one files before the Ombudsman, it is &quot;implied&quot; that one is invoking the &quot;criminal and administrative jurisdiction&quot; of the anti-graft body.</p><p>Under the Revised Penal Code, penalties for falsification can be imprisonment for up to six years, while administrative penalties include suspension, dismissal from service and perpetual disqualification from public office if convicted.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>ALVAREZ: CASE NOT POLITICAL</strong></div><div><br/></div><p>House leaders earlier said the move to file cases against Romualdez and other officials was &quot;politically motivated&quot; and was parat of &quot;diversionary tactics.&quot;</p><p>Alvarez refuted these allegations, saying the real victims were the staff who were instructed to &quot;fill up&quot; the supposed blanks.</p><p>&quot;Wala namang timing yung criminal case eh. Kung gumawa ka ng krimen, yun ang timing. Gumawa ka ng krimen, alangan namang i-file mo yan sa susunod na taon, i-file mo yan sa nakaraang taon, hindi pwede. Ginawa nila yan recently, kaya kinakailangan actionan kaagad natin,&quot; he added.</p><div><br/></div><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/173918026948720220210-corruption-case-romualdez-ombudsman-MT06.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner">(<span>L-R) Ret. Gen. Virgilio Garcia, Davao del Norte Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez, Atty. Ferdie Topacio, senatorial aspirant Jimmy Bondoc, and Citizens Crime Watch’s Diego Magpantay file criminal and graft complaints against House Speaker Martin Romualdez, House Majority Leader Manuel Jose Dalipe, former appropriations chair Rep. Zaldy Co, and acting chair Rep. Stella Quimbo for the alleged illegal P241 billion budget insertions before the Office of the Ombudsman on February 10, 2025. The complainants claim the budget signed by President Marcos contained blank sections, with insertions made post-bicam ratification. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News</span></span></span></span></div><p>&quot;Sino nag-divert? Alin ang nauna? Di ba yung press conference ni dating Pangulong [Rodrigo] Duterte at Cong. [Isidro] Ungab, doon nila pinaputok ng maraming blangko yung Bicam report. Ngayon, ayaw nilang pag-usapan yan dahil sigurado, swak na swak sila sa kaso. Kaya sila ang gumawa ng diversionary tactic. Gumawa sila ng issue na matatabunan itong skandalo sa budget ng 2025,&quot; Alvarez pointed out.</p><p>Last month, former executive secretary and campaign spokesperson Vic Rodriguez and Davao Rep. Isidro Ungab petitioned the Supreme Court to nullify the 2025 General Appropriations Act.</p><p>Alvarez refuted claims that the move is linked to the<a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/2/5/house-impeaches-vp-sara-duterte-1551"> impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte.</a></p><p>&quot;Iba naman yung impeachment, ibang usapin yun. At ito, criminal case ito, ibang usapan dito,&quot; Alvarez said.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/2/7/impeached-sara-duterte-won-t-rule-out-presidential-run-1345">Impeached Sara Duterte won&#x27;t rule out presidential run</a></div><p>The lawmaker, a known Duterte ally, said he did not consult nor speak with former President Rodrigo Duterte about the case.</p><p>Topacio, meanwhile, said they had been discussing the case for a long time but they had to study it carefully before filing it.</p><p>&quot;Gusto lang namin patas yung laban on the merits. Tingnan nila yung reklamo namin. Kung may merits naman, pwede nilang isampa sa Sandiganbayan. Kung wala naman, eh di i-dismiss, walang problema yun,&quot; Alvarez said.</p><p>Last month, Quimbo asserted that the 2025 General Appropriations Act was &quot;lawful, valid and fully enforceable.&quot;</p><p>She said the appropriations in the budget were already decided and approved by the Bicameral Conference Committee before it was ratified by Congress.</p><p>Quimbo noted that technical staff of the House and Senate are authorized to make necessary corrections that are &quot;ministerial&quot; and &quot;calculator activity.&quot;</p><p>Dalipe said passing the budget was “not an act of wrongdoing but a constitutional duty of Congress.”</p><p>“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.</p><p>President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. said there were no &quot;blank items&quot; in the 2025 national budget, adding he reviewed all &quot;4,057 pages of it&quot; before he signed it.</p><p>&quot;I reviewed it, analyzed it, and yes—in parts, vetoed it. [And] up to now I can&#x27;t find those damned blank items,&quot; Marcos said in late January. </p><div><br/></div><div><em></em><br/></div>

Romualdez, House leaders face graft, falsification raps over 2025 budget

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Romualdez, House leaders face graft, falsification raps over 2025 budget

Paige Javier,

ABS-CBN News

Published February 10, 2025 11:20 AM PHT

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Updated February 10, 2025 05:40 PM PHT

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