Philippines: Political firestorm erupts over alleged $4.14 billion budget ‘insertion’

Manila: A fierce political battle is raging in the Philippines as allies of former president Rodrigo Duterte launched a stunning legal offensive against the House of Representatives leadership – accusing them of unlawfully inserting a staggering Php241 billion ($4.14 billion) into the ratified 2025 national budget.

On Monday, former House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, flanked by senatorial hopeful Atty. Jimmy Bondoc, lawyer Ferdinand Topacio, and crime watchdog leader Diego Magpantay, stormed the Office of the Ombudsman to file 24 criminal charges against Speaker Martin Romualdez and key House officials. 

The complaint includes 12 counts each of falsification of legislative documents and graft against Romualdez, House Majority Leader Mannix Dalipe, former House appropriations committee chair Elizaldy Co, acting chair Stella Quimbo, and unnamed technical staff.

Alvarez minced no words in his indictment of the House leadership. 

“Imagine the insertion of Php241 billion; that's a huge amount. You can't say that it's just a typographical error corrected by a technical working group. That is difficult, a large amount is involved,” he declared, his voice laced with outrage.

The 1987 Philippine Constitution vested legislative power in a bicameral Congress of the Philippines consisting of a Senate and a House of Representatives.

If there are differences in the House and Senate versions of a certain legislation (such as the annual national budget, called the General Appropriations Act, GAA), a Bicameral Conference Committee (“bicam” for short) is called to reconcile conflicting provisions of both versions. 

The committee submits a report on the reconciled version of the bill, duly approved by both chambers.

According to Topacio, the complaint hinges on 12 blank allocations in the bicameral report that were allegedly filled in after ratification — a move he claims is an outright violation of the legislative process. 

“What was approved in bicam said zero. It must remain zero when it reaches the President. You can’t turn zero into Php90 billion, Php80 billion, or even Php10,000. That’s outright fraud,” he insisted.

The accusation, if proven true, would mean House leaders committed a brazen act of deception — secretly inflating budget items after they had already been approved by Congress. 

Alvarez warned that the implications could be far-reaching, as similar tactics may have been used in previous budgets.

Gatekeeping and stonewalling

Alvarez further accused the House leadership of deliberately blocking access to the enrolled 2025 General Appropriations Bill (GAB), a massive Php6.325-trillion ($108.77 billion) spending plan, despite multiple formal requests from his office. 

“Why are they hiding it? If there’s nothing to cover up, then show us the documents!” he demanded.

However, House budget chief Stella Quimbo struck back, insisting that the budget bill is publicly available on the House website.

She dismissed the allegations, arguing that the bicam’s blank items were purely for final computation and that the appropriations had already been determined before the ratification.

Meanwhile, Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin distanced the Marcos administration from the controversy. 

Bersamin stated that the Palace had no involvement in the budget’s bicameral process.

However, he was firm in his assertion: “The enrolled budget bill sent to the President contained no blank items.”

The timing of the legal assault has raised eyebrows, with House Majority Leader Dalipe dismissing the charges as a desperate attempt to retaliate against the recent impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte.

The fact that only the House is being targeted is suspicious, Dalipe fired back. The budget process involves both chambers of Congress.

As a sitting member of the House during deliberations on the 2025 General Appropriations Bill, Dalipe pointed out the Alvarez had every opportunity to raise objections, question allocations, and point out any supposed infirmities during plenary discussions.

He further accused Alvarez of grandstanding, pointing out that as a sitting House member, he had ample opportunity to challenge the budget during deliberations but remained silent. 

“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,” Dalipe scoffed.

Alvarez, however, was defiant, insisting that the charges had nothing to do with the impeachment of Sara Duterte and everything to do with exposing a monumental betrayal of public trust. 

“It was them who made the diversionary tactic. They created an issue that will cover this scandal in the 2025 budget,” Alvarez told local media, referring to the impeachment.

Alvarez vowed they will not be silenced.

As tensions between Duterte’s camp and the Romualdez-led House leadership reach a boiling point, the scandal threatens to shake Philippine politics to its core. 

With a Supreme Court petition already in play and the Ombudsman complaint now in motion, this high-stakes showdown is only just beginning.

Will this expose a billion-peso conspiracy — or is it just another political power play in a nation long accustomed to high-stakes intrigue? This political battle has only just begun.