Davao del Norte Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez yesterday filed graft and falsification of legislative documents case against House Speaker Martin Romualdez with the Office of the Ombudsman which House leaders dismissed as politically motivated.
Alvarez was accompanied by lawyers Jimmy Bondoc and Ferdinand Topacio, as well as Diego Magpantay of the Citizen’s Crime Watch during the filing.
Also implicated in Alvarez’s complaint were Majority Leader Manuel Dalipe of Zamboanga City, and House budget leaders Stella Quimbo of Marikina City and Zaldy Co of Ako Bicol party-list, former committee on appropriations chairperson.
The Davao lawmaker, however, insisted that the complaint, which alleged a P241 billion insertion in the 2025 General Appropriations Act, was not an effort to derail the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte.
House Majority Leader Manuel Jose Dalipe, however, belittled Alvarez’s move.
Dalipe, himself a lawyer, said the approval of the 2025 General Appropriations Bill (GAB) is not an act of wrongdoing but a constitutional duty of Congress.
He said 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,” Dalipe pointed out.
“More telling is the involvement of former Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez as one of the complainants. As a sitting member of the House during the deliberations of the 2025 General Appropriations Bill, he had every opportunity to raise objections, question allocations, and point out any supposed infirmities during plenary discussions,” he said.
“Yet, he did not. His silence during the legislative process, and his sudden emergence as a complainant, only reinforces the fact that these accusations are not grounded on actual violations but are politically motivated attacks meant to discredit the House leadership,” the lawmaker added.
Dalipe also noted the timing of the complaint’s filing, led by a known Duterte ally, was highly suspicious.
“The national budget is the lifeblood of government operations, ensuring the delivery of essential services and the implementation of vital projects for the Filipino people. It is important to emphasize that the passage of the General Appropriations Act (GAA) is not solely the action of the House of Representatives,” he said.
“It undergoes thorough deliberations and scrutiny by Congress before it is transmitted to the President for final approval. This process adheres to the checks and balances enshrined in our Constitution, ensuring transparency, accountability, and fiscal responsibility,” Dalipe explained further.
For her part, Quimbo, one of those being implicated by Alvarez, earlier maintained that the 2025 GAA is above board because the allocations on the then-proposed budget were already decided by Bicameral Conference Committee members before both chambers ratified the report.