ANC: Tiangco: P26.6-B of P209-B in DPWH 2025 budget insertions listed under Romualdez

Navotas Representative Toby Tiangco testified before the Sandiganbayan that most of the P26.6 billion worth of infrastructure projects allegedly allocated to former House Speaker Martin Romualdez were located outside his congressional district.

Testifying during the Sandiganbayan Third Division hearing on the bail petition of Romualdez, Tiangco said the amount was part of the P209 billion worth of projects inserted by lawmakers into the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) budget.

According to Tiangco, only around P2 billion worth of projects were allocated to Romualdez’s own district, while the bulk were located in other congressional districts.

In his judicial affidavit, Tiangco said this discrepancy raised a red flag, noting that lawmakers would ordinarily seek infrastructure projects for their respective districts.

He said he obtained the information from a list of projects and their proponents sent to him by the late former DPWH Undersecretary Catalina Cabral on March 26, 2025.

Tiangco also received a separate list from Quezon City Second District Representative David Jay-Jay Suarez.

However, he said Suarez’s list did not include the projects allocated to Romualdez and the P5 billion worth of projects under the Tingog party-list, which is represented by Romualdez’s wife, Yedda.

“There was a missing list. That’s what Jay-Jay did not want to give me because it was what they called the special list. That special list contained Martin Romualdez’s P26 billion and the Tingog party-list’s P5 billion,” Tiangco told reporters.

Tiangco also testified that Suarez’s list contained markings indicating which lawmakers voted for or against the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte in February 2025.

He said the list used the words “positive” and “negative,” as well as blue and red markings, to identify lawmakers who supported or opposed the impeachment.

Tiangco said he asked President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. whether the markings were connected to the amount of funding each lawmaker would receive.

The President allegedly told him there was no such arrangement and that the funding was not connected to the impeachment.

ABS-CBN News has reached out to Suarez for comment.

Tiangco also recounted an alleged confrontation between Marcos, Romualdez and former Ako Bicol Representative Zaldy Co during a meeting on November 24, 2024.

In his judicial affidavit, Tiangco said he personally witnessed the President reprimand the two lawmakers, accusing them of taking funds intended for major government projects and undermining his administration.

Marcos allegedly told Romualdez that he had yet to implement a major project because Romualdez and Co were taking money from projects.

The President also reportedly told them: “Kayo ni Zaldy ang sumisira sa gobyernong ito, papabagsakin ninyo ang gobyerno ko.”

Tiangco recalled Marcos sarcastically asking Romualdez how many more houses he wanted in Forbes Park, airplanes and Ferraris he needed, and how much more caviar he could eat.

According to Tiangco, Romualdez subsequently promised the President that he would have his projects restored to the budget during the bicameral conference committee process.

However, Tiangco said this promise was not fulfilled.

During another private meeting on December 2, 2024, Tiangco said he informed Romualdez that he had received information that Co was demanding a 20-percent commission in exchange for infrastructure projects.

Tiangco said he was offered a lower, 10-percent commission, described as a “presyong kamag-anak” or family rate, because his wife was allegedly Romualdez’s cousin.

He said the offer was relayed through former congressman Dong Gonzales.

Tiangco added that he refused to proceed with the arrangement.

Instead of addressing the alleged commission demand, Romualdez reportedly told him to deal directly with the former House Speaker.

Tiangco said this reinforced his understanding that Romualdez knew about the alleged selling of projects and commission arrangements involving Co.

The defense, however, dismissed Tiangco’s statements as hearsay.

Tiangco also testified that Marcos wanted Co removed as chairperson of the House Committee on Appropriations.

He said that on January 13, 2025, the President instructed his son, Representative Sandro Marcos, to move for Co’s removal to show the public that the administration would not protect anyone and that no one was above the law.

Co was removed from the committee chairmanship that same afternoon.

However, Tiangco admitted that he had not been aware of any measures taken since Co’s removal to put an end to the so-called “taripa system,” or the alleged practice of demanding commissions in exchange for congressional infrastructure projects.

The testimony was presented during the Sandiganbayan Third Division’s proceedings on Romualdez’s bail petition in connection with his plunder case involving alleged kickbacks from government infrastructure projects.

The court earlier placed Romualdez under a 90-day preventive suspension. – ANC, The World Tonight, November 10, 2026