DPWH exec testifies P27B inserted for Romualdez, Co
A division head of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) told the Sandiganbayan on Monday that more than P27-billion worth of projects were “inserted” for Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez on the instructions of the late Public Works Undersecretary Maria Catalina Cabral.
Peter Paul Cortez, head of the programming division of the DPWH, said the insertions covered 444 projects in the 2025 General Appropriations Act (GAA). Cortez also tagged former lawmaker and fugitive Elizaldy “Zaldy” Co.
“Per record of our database, they are the ones tagged as proponents. Actually, our term there is ‘inserted,’” Cortez said in response to a question from Associate Justice Karl Miranda, Third Division chair of the antigraft court.
Cortez said his division “assumed” that Romualdez and Co were the proponents since Cabral gave their names for encoding into the DPWH database. “Based on the database, their names are referred to as proponents,” he said.
Asked by Miranda if the alleged insertions appeared in the GAA without passing through the DPWH, Cortez said, “Yes.”
Also on Monday, the August Twenty-One Movement (Atom) slammed the alleged special treatment for Romualdez at the New Quezon City Jail where he is detained for plunder.
“If actions like this are applied to powerful people like the former Speaker, then ordinary citizens should also enjoy the benefit of an assistant inside jail just like Speaker Romualdez,” Atom said in a statement.
