Ombudsman urged to suspend House leaders over 2025 budget 'blunder'

Allies of former President Rodrigo Duterte petitioned the Ombudsman on Wednesday to temporarily suspend Speaker Martin Romualdez and three key House members pending an investigation into the criminal case they filed, alleging the unlawful insertion of P241 billion into this year’s budget.

In a four-page motion, former Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, lawyers Ferdinand Topacio and Virgilio Garcia, and Citizen's Crime Watch president Diego Magpantay argued that the House leaders should be placed under preventive suspension to prevent them from using their position and influence to prejudice the investigation.

Aside from Romualdez, the petitioners also sought the suspension of House Majority Leader Manuel Jose Dalipe, former House appropriations committee chairperson Elizaldy Co, acting chair Stella Quimbo, and John Doe and Jane Doe — representing the House’s technical staff — whose identities have yet to be confirmed.

“The respondents herein are some of the most powerful and influential officials in the government, particularly in the legislature,” the motion reads.

It continues, “Considering their high positions, power, and influence, it does not take an imaginative mind to know that respondents will use their influence, either directly or through their subordinates, to suborn witnesses, tamper with evidence, and perjure testimony to avoid penalty.”

The Ombudsman has the authority to preventively suspend a public officer without pay if the evidence of guilt is strong, particularly if the charge involves dishonesty, oppression, gross misconduct, or gross neglect in the performance of duty.

As of press time, the respondents had not responded to media inquiries.

The call for suspension follows the filing of twelve counts each of falsification of legislative documents and graft against the lawmakers last week, in relation to the alleged insertion of P241 billion into the ratified bicameral conference committee report on the 2025 budget.

The charges represent twelve blank items in the bicam report that were allegedly later filled in with appropriations, despite the report already being ratified by both the House and Senate, in violation of Article 170 of the Revised Penal Code.

The bicam report was the result of harmonizing the House and Senate versions of the 2025 General Appropriations Bill (GAB).

Complainants argued that the alleged P241 billion insertion undermined the purpose of the bicam conference, which was to reconcile conflicting provisions of the two budget versions.

Earlier, Quimbo admitted that there were blank items in the bicam report but insisted that the funding for those items was identified before the bicam members signed the report.

Nonetheless, she stated that anyone could review the enrolled bill, which was publicly available on the House’s website, to verify its "completeness and compliance with due process."

Citing the suspicious timing, Dalipe previously dismissed the criminal charges as politically motivated, claiming they were in retaliation for the House's impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte on February 5.

He also questioned why Alvarez and other petitioners only sued House members, given that the bicam is a collegial body.

“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,” he said.

The controversy over the so-called blank items in the bicameral report on the 2025 budget was first raised by former President Duterte and Davao City Rep. Isidro Ungab, the former appropriations committee chair.

Ungab and other Duterte allies have already questioned the constitutionality of this year’s General Appropriations Act (GAA) before the Supreme Court.