Romualdez’s lawyer insists: No probe showed his links to infra mess

MANILA, Philippines — The lawyer of Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez has disputed the Office of the Ombudsman’s claims that state witnesses will be used to pin down the former speaker, saying that no investigation was able to show his links to the budget mess and the infrastructure corruption scandal.

In a statement on Thursday, lawyer Elaine Atienza maintained that attempts to link Romualdez to the said issues “are not supported by evidence” as the former speaker cannot have total control of the entire budget process.

Atienza said this after Assistant Ombudsman Mico Clavano on Tuesday admitted that the decision to tap former Public Works Secretary Manuel Bonoan as state witness was made in order to strengthen their case against Romualdez.

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“The latest attempts to link Rep. Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez to alleged anomalous flood control projects are not supported by evidence. They do not square with how the national budget process actually work,” Atienza said.

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READ: Ombudsman: Bonoan’s state witness bid made to pin down Romualdez

“Despite numerous Senate and House inquiries and other official investigations, no former or incumbent Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) official has ever identified Rep. Romualdez as having participated in the planning, procurement, implementation, inspection, payment, or release of funds for any alleged ghost project,” she added.

According to Atienza, not even Bonoan has implicated Romualdez in past investigations and congressional hearings.

The reason, the lawyer said, is simple: Romualdez was not involved in the anomalous insertions.

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“Even former DPWH Secretary Manuel Bonoan — despite all opportunities in the past and who had firsthand knowledge of the Department’s operations — never implicated Rep. Romualdez. The reason is simple — because Rep. Romualdez was not involved,” she said.

“The issue traces back to the national budget process. In that process, no single person — not even the Speaker of the House — can control,” she added.

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Atienza said that Romualdez cannot order a DPWH secretary or the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) or the Senate, noting that the former speaker is neither involved in the planning, implementation, and financing of projects.

“The Speaker cannot issue directives to the DPWH Secretary.  He cannot dictate on the DBM or the Senate. And even more, he cannot plan projects, do biddings, award contracts, inspect, or release funds,” she said.

“To insist that Rep. Romualdez was the ‘mastermind’ would require the public to believe that one person controlled every stage of the process — from budget preparation to project implementation and fund release. What others want to depict is that one person is responsible and has control of the entire government. That is not how it is under our Constitution,” she added.

This is not the first time that Atienza has insisted that Romualdez does not have control over the entire budget process. Last May 29, Atienza said there is no such thing as a “functional control” over the entire budget process, noting that no single person has discretion over every step of appropriations.

Atienza said that they take exception to recent pronouncements that he was the mastermind of the flood control scam — a statement also made by Clavano.

READ: Clavano: Romualdez may have ‘functional control’ over flood budget panel

“Let us clarify: there is no such thing as ‘functional control’ over the budget process. No single person crafts the national budget. It is not managed by one office only, and the House speaker cannot dictate or control its outcome,” Atienza said last May.

READ: Romualdez says no such thing as ‘functional control’ over budget

Romualdez also spoke about the same matter in a video statement last April 21, claiming that he cannot be considered a mastermind because the budget process starts with the executive branch forming the National Expenditures Program (NEP) which is sent to Congress.

Romualdez also noted that the process ends with the executive as well, as the executive branch is the one implementing the projects identified in the General Appropriations Act (GAA).

READ: Romualdez: How can I be mastermind if Congress doesn’t build projects?

Instead, Romualdez said that budget decisions were made just by two officials — former Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero and former House appropriations chairperson and ex-Ako Bicol party-list Rep. Elizaldy “Zaldy” Co.

“Records would show that I did not participate in those meetings and I was not privy to what exactly transpired during the deliberations. However, two people were instrumental in making those budget decisions: Chiz Escudero and Zaldy Co,” he said.

Atienza said they are not against any means to hold people accountable, but it must be backed by evidence.

“If there were irregularities in any infrastructure project, then those who actually exercised legal and operational authority should be identified and held accountable. Accountability must follow the evidence— not political convenience,” she said.

“If someone has done wrong, let us hold them accountable.  But let us not use shortcuts by using a big name just to show results to the public.  Rep. Romualdez is being portrayed as the convenient excuse and political scapegoat despite the absence of evidence linking him to the alleged anomalous projects,” she added. /das

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