A GROUP led by former House Speaker Pantaleon “Bebot” Alvarez, now Davao del Norte Representative, has filed graft and corruption charges against House Speaker Martin Romualdez and three other House officials, in connection with alleged insertions worth hundreds of billions of pesos in the 2025 national budget.
The complaint, filed with the Quezon City Prosecutors’ Office, includes charges of falsification of legislative documents against Romualdez, former House Appropriations chair and AKO Bicol party-list Rep. Elizaldy Co, appropriation vice chair Stella Quimbo, and House majority leader Jose Manuel Dalipe.
The group, which includes Atty. Ferdie Topacio, Atty. Jimmy Bondoc, BGen Virgilio Garcia, and Diego Magpantay, president of Citizen’s Crime Watch, alleges that the House officials falsified the 2025 General Appropriations Bill (GAB).
The case stems from the discovery by former president Rodrigo Duterte, Davao City Rep. Isidro Ungab, and Atty. Vic Rodriguez of blank items in the Bicameral Conference Committee report on the 2025 GAB.
The group argues that the House officials manipulated the GAB by filling these blank items with specific projects and funding amounts before it was sent to President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. for his signature.
Atty. Topacio stated they filed 12 counts of falsification of legislative documents, as there were 12 blank items allegedly filled in by the House before it was sent to the President.
“The Bicameral Conference Committee approved zero [for those items]. It was stated as zero. When it reached the President, it should have also been zero,” Topacio emphasized.
Furthermore, Alvarez’s group filed charges of violating Section 3(e) of Republic Act (RA) 3019, the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, against Romualdez and his team, alleging that they inserted P241 billion into the national budget.
Alvarez explained that they initially considered filing charges under the Revised Penal Code but ultimately decided to file under the anti-graft law due to the severity of the alleged violations.
The group believes that the public, as well as the government, is disadvantaged by the P241 billion allegedly inserted by Romualdez’s team, and therefore, they should be held accountable under the anti-graft law.
