The camp of Leyte 1st District Rep. Martin Romualdez sought to disprove notions that the former House Speaker was regarded as one of the supposed “masterminds” in the multibillion peso flood control scandal based on the recent proclamations of the Office of the Ombudsman.

Atty. Elaine Atienza, the spokesperson of Romualdez, stated that the national budget was not necessarily controlled by a single individual, instead it was determined through a process that begins through the executive agencies of government.

“We take exception to the recent public pronouncement suggesting that Rep. Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez was the mastermind of the flood control scheme because he, as Speaker of the House at the time, supposedly had “functional control” over the budget process,” Atienza said in a statement.

“Linawin po natin: there is no such thing as “functional control” over the budget process,” she added.

The lawyer’s remarks served as a response to the statements of Assistant Ombudsman Mico Clavano stating that there was a “school of thought” within the investigative body that Romualdez was the “mastermind” of the scandal.

Clavano further asserted that in spite of the solon’s non-membership in the House Committee on Appropriations which deliberates on the budget, House leadership still had functional control on small committees like the aforementioned panel.

“Corruption is not official; nothing is written on paper. So there will be attempts to layer, there will be attempts to hide what they were doing. So obviously it will be just a matter of defense that he was not included in the small committee,” he said through a radio interview on DZMM.

For their part, Atienza maintained that lawmakers did not necessarily have the discretion in how the budget was released after thorough deliberations between the Senate and the House, and finally approved by the President.

She further expressed that Romualdez was not intended to certify and inspect if the projects were properly implemented, restating that that role was intended for the Executive.

“Wag po nating baluktutin ang katotohanan. Wala pong kakayahan ang Speaker na diktahan ang mga Senador, ang Pangulo, o ang sinuman sa proseso ng pagpasa ng budget,” the lawyer said.

“Accountability must be based on evidence, not theory or opinion. It must be based on what a person actually did, not what people assume his title allowed him to do,” she added.

Atienza stressed that seeking accountability for the nationwide issue must be conducted through evidence and not necessarily through sifting through opinions and theories that certain public officials facilitated the scandal.

The lawyer stated that this approach only solidified that “public narratives are being allowed to run ahead of evidence,” noting that her client was prepared to answer all allegations through the proper legal process.

Aside from Romualdez, former Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero was also cited as a supposed co-mastermind in the flood control scandal.

Both solons were issued precautionary hold departure orders (PHDO) from the Sandiganbayan as the Ombudsman noted that their respective probes were currently in the preliminary investigation stage.

Previously, through a video posted last 26 April, Romualdez had asked the anti-graft body to inhibit itself from the ongoing flood control probe as he noted that the Ombudsman had already established a prejudgment and bias on the issue.