The Office of Speaker Martin Romualdez strongly denied on Tuesday Navotas Rep. Toby Tiangco’s damning accusations that pork barrel, disguised as ayuda (aid), is being solely controlled by the newly reelected House leader. 

Tiangco, who had been a rumored contender of Romualdez for the speakership but whose bid failed to take shape owing to an alleged lack of political support in Congress, leveled grave allegations anew against Romualdez just right after his reelection. 

Tiangco asserted that Romualdez’s office “must stop controlling” the distribution and allocation of Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations (AICS), Ayuda para sa Kapos ang Kita Program (AKAP), Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (TUPAD), and Medical Assistance to Indigent Patients (MAIP) because it becomes the new face of “pork barrel” when it has to be subjected to his approval. 

Romualdez’s office, in response, dismissed Tiangco’s accusations as “baseless,” asserting that he had no hand in the assistance allocations and the selection of lawmakers who could receive a chunk of it because they are being “implemented solely by executive agencies” such as the Departments of Social Welfare and Development, Labor and Employment, and Health. 

“Cong. Toby Tiangco has been a [lawmaker] for a very long time. He knows very well that it is not true that the Speaker is in control of the funds of various departments,” House spokesperson Princess Abante said in an interview. 

“These agencies retain full authority over the approval, funding, and implementation of their respective programs, in accordance with law and internal procedures,” she added in a separate statement. 

Similar to the usual practice of all congressional offices, the Speaker’s office, she added, could only issue endorsements or referrals in response to constituent requests from legislators or local leaders—all of which are strictly non-binding and do not guarantee or influence approval.

‘Speaker’s pork barrel’

This contradicts Tiangco’s assertions that members of the House are forced to seek approval for their fund requests from the Speaker’s office, which he claimed could have it disapprove or dictate how much budget to allocate to one’s office.

“When you have to beg from the Office of the Speaker, it blatantly becomes the Speaker's pork barrel. This is equivalent to post-appropriation control by legislators, which the Supreme Court has prohibited,” Tiangco stressed.

Abante, however, countered, “Final decisions rest entirely with the implementing agencies, which assess each request based on program guidelines, fund availability, and internal controls.” 

“To allege otherwise is to misrepresent the law and institutional practice. The Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in Belgica v. Executive Secretary (PDAF case) prohibits legislators from exercising post-enactment discretion over public funds. The House of Representatives, under Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez, fully upholds this principle,” she contended.

The Priority Development Assistance Fund, commonly known as pork barrel, is a lump-sum and discretionary fund allocated to members of Congress to finance their pet projects, such as infrastructure, livelihood programs, and other forms of assistance, that local government units could not finance. 

The Supreme Court, however, declared the pork barrel unconstitutional after it became a source of massive corruption that exposed and prosecuted a myriad of lawmakers for wrongdoings, including plunder, bribery, graft, and malversation.

The government allotted a whopping P253.3 billion in ayuda in the 2025 national budget, with the DSWD getting the lion’s share. The DSWD’s AKAP, the brainchild of the House under Romualdez, was allocated P26 billion in this year’s budget, despite critics saying it received zero allocation in the National Expenditure Program.

Under the House-approved General Appropriations Bill, P39.8 billion was earmarked for AKAP. However, Senator Imee Marcos entirely deleted the AKAP in the Senate-proposed budget bill. The funding for the program was just restored by the bicam conference committee, with P21 billion allocated to members of the House, while the P5 billion went to the senators.

Several groups, including that of ex-SC senior associate justice Antonio Carpio, petitioned the high court to declare the 2025 budget unconstitutional, citing the AKAP allocation, which they argued mirrored the pork barrel scheme.

Small committee, illegal insertions

Aside from pork barrel, Tiangco said the House should also scrap the practice of establishing a small committee comprised of four members tasked to make individual amendments to the GAB. He argued that the budget bill — the most important legislation that Congress passes every year — must follow the procedure of all other measures, and that every single individual amendment must be debated in open session. 

“We must heed the President's call. Stop the twisted and outdated practice of forming small committees to discuss individual amendments. Follow the process that is observed on all House bills, not the secret meeting of just four people,” he contended. 

The 2025 GAA, originally set at P6.352 trillion, was trimmed down to P6.326 trillion after President Marcos Jr. vetoed P194 billion worth of line items deemed inconsistent with his administration's priority programs, which critics blamed on bicam.

During his SONA last Monday, Marcos warned members of Congress that he would return any proposed GAB that is not fully aligned with the NEP, regardless if it results in a reenacted budget.

In response to Tiangco’s allegations, Abante pointed out that forming a small committee is not an irregular practice but is a “longstanding parliamentary practice.”

“It has been used across many Congresses, including those in which Congressman Toby Tiangco held leadership roles and never objected to its use,” she said. “The small committee does not override or replace the plenary. Its outputs are reported and become part of the final General Appropriations Bill.”

'Secret meeting misleading’

Tiangco characterizing it as a “secret meeting” is misleading and undermines the institutional memory and processes of the House, she added.

Tiangco was the vice chairperson of the House committee on appropriations, tasked with overseeing the annual national budget in the previous Congress, and has been outspoken about his intention to head the powerful panel in the 20th Congress. 

He vowed not to be a blind follower of the House leadership and to meticulously craft the 2026 budget to avoid the recurrence of alleged irregularities in the 2025 GAB.

However, since he refused to join the supermajority and opted to be an independent, his ambition to be chairman is unlikely to happen because committee chairmanships are traditionally given to lawmakers supportive of the leadership.

Citing alleged illegal budget insertions in the 2025 national budget, Tiangco abstained from voting for Romualdez as speaker. Bacolod Rep. Albee Benitez and Cebu Rep. Duke Frasco — also rumored challengers of Romualdez — also abstained from voting and declared themselves as independent. 

To recall, Romualdez and other House leaders in the previous Congress were slapped with 12 counts each of graft and falsification charges before the Ombudsman for “unlawfully” inserting P241 billion in this year’s budget — an allegation they dismissed as a “retaliation” of allies of former president Rodrigo Duterte following the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte. 

Romualdez continues to maintain a grip in the 318-member House after being reelected as speaker for the 20th Congress with an overwhelming 269 votes, though the figure was relatively lower than the expected 293, as previously claimed by his allies. At least 34 lawmakers abstained, including Tiangco, Benitez, Frasco, and the so-called Davao bloc led by Davao Rep. Paolo Duterte — a staunch critic of the administration. 

Tiangco, Benitez, and Frasco, however, vowed to remain supportive of President Marcos despite being independents.

Most lawmakers who voted in support of Romualdez cited his “proven,” “trusted” and "steady" leadership and strong commitment to swiftly passing laws supportive of the Marcos administration’s economic recovery, agriculture, and education reform, among others, as grounds for him to stay at the helm.

In the 19th Congress, the House passed a series of priority measures in line with Marcos’ Bagong Pilipinas agenda, including 61 out of 64 priority measures outlined by the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council, chaired by the President.