What, no Senate? House execs say of budget raps
- House leaders question why Speaker Martin Romualdez was named respondent in the graft complaint filed by allies of former President Rodrigo Duterte with the Ombudsman.
- No senator who was also a member of the bicam panel was included in the charge sheet.
- The solons say Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez, as a complainant, “neither has the legal nor moral right to file graft charges” since he had every opportunity to raise his concerns during the budget deliberations and approval process, and yet he did not.
Why single us out?
Ranking House leaders on Tuesday wondered why only their colleagues in the chamber seem to be taking the heat in the persisting controversy over the bicameral (bicam) conference committee report that formed the basis for the 2025 national budget law, when the Senate also played a key role in the process.
At a press conference, Assistant Majority Leaders Amparo Zamora (Taguig) and Ramon Rodrigo Gutierrez (1-Rider party list) also questioned why Speaker Martin Romualdez was named respondent in the graft complaint filed by allies of former President Rodrigo Duterte, led by Davao del Norte Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez, in the Office of the Ombudsman on Monday.
No senator who was also a member of the bicam panel was included in the charge sheet, which alleges that Romualdez, Majority Leader Manuel Jose Dalipe, former House appropriations chair and Ako Bicol Rep. Elizaldy Co, and acting appropriations chair and Marikina Rep. Stella Quimbo, made P241 billion worth of “insertions” in the national budget.
The bicameral panel is tasked with reconciling differences in the Senate and House versions of the budget bill. The final version is then ratified by both chambers before being signed into law by the President.
“The Speaker isn’t even part of the bicam. They should have made it clear if their case is hinged really on the bicam,” Zamora said.
‘Selective targeting’
Gutierrez called out the “selective targeting” of House members. “If you also look at the cast of characters, how come only the House members were named respondents?”
“These are just some questions that I think the people should be asking in relation to the context of the filing of that case,” he added.
Gutierrez said Alvarez, now as a complainant, “neither has the legal nor moral right to file graft charges” since he had every opportunity to raise his concerns during the budget deliberations and approval process, and yet he did not.
Alvarez served as Speaker from 2016 to 2018, during the first two years of the Duterte administration.
“It’s very ironic that Mr. Alvarez barely participated in the nonstop budget hearings that we’ve had for the 2025 budget, whether at the committee level or the plenary,” Zamora said.
Supreme Court case
Another set of Duterte allies went to the Supreme Court last month to raise allegations of irregularities in the enactment of the national budget, including the supposed “blank items” in the budget bill.
Asking the high court to declare the budget bill unconstitutional, this group included President Marcos’ former Executive Secretary Victor Rodriguez and Davao City Rep. Isidro Ungab.
Named respondents in their petition were Romualdez, Senate President Francis Escudero and Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin.
