A Department of Public Works and Highways official confirmed before the Sandiganbayan that all 444 infrastructure projects worth ₱27.43 billion attributed to former House Speaker Martin Romualdez in the 2025 national budget were insertions that had not undergone the agency’s regular technical vetting process.
DPWH Programming Division Chief Engr. Peter Paul Cortez testified on Monday, Nov. 9, that the projects were absent from the National Expenditure Program (NEP) and the original budget proposal but subsequently appeared in the 2025 General Appropriations Act (GAA).
“I definitely know na walang vetting po [sa projects]… walang dumaan sa min [na supporting prior study],” Cortez told the anti-graft court.
His testimony indicated that the projects had not passed through his division for the supporting studies typically required to evaluate proposed infrastructure spending.
During the proceedings, Sandiganbayan Associate Justice Ronald Moreno asked whether the insertions had likely been initiated through the chairperson of the House Committee on Appropriations.
“So most likely these have been passed through the initiative of the Chair of the Appropriations Committee?” Moreno asked.
Cortez answered in the affirmative and subsequently identified former Ako Bicol Party-list Rep. Zaldy Co as the committee chairperson at the time.
The disclosure comes as Romualdez remains detained at the New Quezon City Jail in Payatas over a separate ₱7.44-billion plunder case involving kickbacks from government flood control and infrastructure projects.
The Office of the Ombudsman filed the plunder case on Sept. 7 against Romualdez, Co, and two other individuals. Romualdez was arrested and subsequently ordered detained by the Sandiganbayan. He has pleaded not guilty, while Co remains at large.
The latest testimony adds to mounting scrutiny of the 2025 national budget, particularly the inclusion of billions of pesos in infrastructure allocations without prior DPWH technical evaluation.
