Former House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez and several legal figures are set to file criminal complaints against House Speaker Martin Romualdez and two other lawmakers over alleged P241 billion worth of insertions in the 2025 national budget.
Alvarez, along with senatorial aspirants Atty. Jimmy Bondoc and Atty. Raul Lambino, lawyer Ferdinand Topacio, and the Citizens Crime Watch group, announced the move at the Kamuning Bakery news forum.
The group plans to lodge falsification of legislative documents charges against Romualdez, House Majority Leader Manuel Jose “Mannix” Dalipe, former House appropriations committee chairperson and Ako Bicol Party-list Representative Zaldy Co, and other unnamed individuals at the Quezon City Prosecutor’s Office on Monday.
Alvarez pointed to supposed blank entries in the bicameral conference committee report on the national budget, claiming they were only filled in after the president signed the measure into law.
“Nagulat na lang kaming lahat noong makita namin… May mga blangko po rito. Ngunit noong pinirmahan ng presidente, kumpleto na,” Alvarez said.
He also claimed that multiple requests for a copy of the enrolled bill had been ignored. “Hanggang ngayon po itinatago sa amin ‘yan,” he added.
In a GMA News Online report, Romualdez’s camp responded by saying they will wait for the official complaint before making any further statements.
Despite political tensions between the Duterte and Marcos camps, Alvarez and Bondoc denied that the move was part of a political feud. “Wala po itong kinalaman sa politika,” Bondoc stated, emphasizing their push against corruption.
Meanwhile, the 2025 national budget, amounting to P6.326 trillion, was signed into law by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on December 30, with over P194 billion in line items vetoed for being inconsistent with administration priorities.
Concerns over budget discrepancies were initially raised by former President Rodrigo Duterte and Davao City Rep. Isidro Ungab, with claims of missing allocations for the Department of Agriculture and unprogrammed appropriations. Marcos dismissed these claims, saying Duterte was “lying.”
A petition has also been filed before the Supreme Court seeking to declare the 2025 budget unconstitutional over alleged irregularities, with former Executive Secretary Vic Rodriguez among the petitioners.
House appropriations panel acting chairperson Stella Quimbo previously acknowledged the presence of blank items in the bicameral report but asserted that funding for these items was identified before the final signing.
