Martin: ‘I have nothing to hide’

Former House Speaker Martin Romualdez appeared before the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) on Tuesday, his first public engagement since stepping down in September amid allegations of kickbacks linked to the botched flood control projects.

Before the hearing that was held behind closed doors, Romualdez said he would share detailed insights into the budget process and congressional insertions — issues widely believed to be at the heart of the alleged corruption in the government’s flood mitigation projects.

After the hearing, Romualdez told reporters, “I’m very glad that I was invited to the ICI to share my personal knowledge on the budget process and, of course, any information about the insertions on flood control.”

“I was finally given an opportunity to share my side of the story. For now, in a way, it’s about facts and evidence and not only political noise or speculations,” he said.

The erstwhile speaker pledged to fully cooperate and comply with the fact-finding body’s invitation to subsequent hearings, asserting that he had “nothing to hide.”

Romualdez pointed out that he was not a member of the bicameral conference committee in the 19th Congress that was tasked with crafting the final draft of the national budget bill.

He, however, vowed to “share any and all information to help determine the truth and to give all the facts and information.”

The bicam panel, composed of select House and Senate members, was blamed for the massive insertions for flood control projects in the Department of Public Works and Highways budget.

Both Romualdez and former Ako Bicol Rep. Elizaldy Co were summoned to the hearing, but Co did not attend. His office has yet to issue a statement explaining his absence, but it will be recalled that Co departed the country earlier to seek medical treatment in the United States. The latest sightings placed him in Spain and Portugal.

Romualdez and Co were implicated in the flood control anomalies in early September, when prominent contractor Curlee Discaya accused them of receiving 10 to 25-percent kickbacks from projects awarded to his nine firms, which he managed alongside his wife, Sarah.

Discaya, however, later claimed during a House hearing that he had no direct dealings with Romualdez and Co, suggesting that their colleagues in the House who asked for commissions may have only used their names for leverage.

Co previously chaired the influential House Committee on Appropriations but resigned from the position in early January, barely two weeks after the 2025 General Appropriations Act (GAA), derided by critics as the “most corrupt budget,” took effect.

Deputy Speaker Ronaldo Puno earlier pointed to Co and former Senate president Chiz Escudero as the “masterminds” of the massive insertions in this year’s GAA, accusing them of “pencil[ing] in whatever needed to be penciled in.”

Puno claimed that Co and Escudero made up the so-called small committee of the bicam, along with Romualdez and former senator Grace Poe who chaired the Senate Finance Committee in the previous Congress.

Puno said the small committee, which consolidated the independent amendments to the 2025 GAB, held several meetings which Romualdez and Poe did not attend, leaving Escudero and Co to finalize the budget.

The 2025 General Appropriations Act had faced criticism for allegedly inflating unprogrammed appropriations (UA) with flood control projects reportedly among the items charged.

Funds worth a staggering P141 billion to bankroll flood control projects in 2023 and 2024 were also allegedly drawn from the UA, which is now at the center of a sweeping corruption probe involving members of Congress, DPWH officials, and private contractors.

The 2025 GAA was originally pegged at P6.352 trillion, but President Marcos trimmed it to P6.326 trillion, vetoing P194 billion in line items he considered misaligned with his administration’s priorities — including P16.7 billion earmarked for flood control projects.

The unprogrammed appropriations had surged to record levels since 2023, Marcos’ first full year in office, approaching nearly P2 trillion — though P168.2 billion of this was reportedly vetoed in the 2025 GAA.

Conduit for corruption

Opposition lawmakers branded the UA as a conduit for corruption and pushed to scrap it from the 2026 budget where it was given an allocation of P250 billion. However, despite growing calls for reform, the House approved the 2026 GAA on Monday, keeping the UA intact.

Co’s successor, Mikaela Suansing, clarified that UA projects will be tapped only if the government posts surplus revenue in 2026.

NBI recommends raps

The National Bureau of Investigation has recommended filing corruption charges against several members of Congress, including Senators Escudero, Joel Villanueva and Jinggoy Estrada, and former House lawmaker Co.

Escudero, however, cried foul over Romualdez’s non-inclusion in the charge sheet, suggesting selective prosecution.

The Department of Justice, on the other hand, attributed Romualdez’s omission from the NBI list to his accuser’s, Orly Guteza, failure to appear before the DoJ to submit his affidavit.

Romualdez confirmed that he has not received an invitation to the DoJ hearing.