OPINION
Ed Javier
If Speaker Romualdez Cannot Lead Now, How Can He Run In 2028?
Photo credit: Congress PH
Driving from our provincial home back to Manila, in time for our radio program Executive Session tomorrow morning at DZRH, the long stretch of highway offers more than scenery.
It tells a story of cracked roads, potholes that jolt the tires, and floodwaters pooling where projects worth hundreds of billions were supposedly completed.
At a roadside pit stop, we shared "mami" with ordinary folks who summed it up best: “Anim na buwan kaming lubog sa baha. Kaya nung lumabas sa balita na nilulublob pala ang pera sa bulsa ng mga taga highways (DPWH) at pulitiko, hindi na kami nagtaka.”
That blunt truth captures the scandal at the Department of Public Works and Highways.
As we’ve discussed in previous columns, corruption doesn’t begin at the construction site.
Long before the first shovel hits the ground or the first truck unloads gravel, the money has already been carved up in backrooms.
The rot begins in the national budget or General Appropriations Act (GAA), inserted by politicians who know exactly where the “favored projects” are and how much they will yield.
Consider the pattern: flood-control allocations that doubled in just three years, billions for dredging, desilting, rock netting, concreting and asphalting.
Provinces like Bulacan, Mindoro, and Iloilo were showered with funds. Yet Bulacan still drowns half the year.
So when Navotas Representative Toby Tiangco asked during the budget briefing: Where is the report of the small committee that altered the 2025 budget? He struck at the heart of the issue.
Because in truth, one who should answer is none other than Ako Bicol Partylist Rep. Zaldy Co, the Appropriations Chair in the last Congress, under whose watch the 2025 budget insertions were made.
Where is he now? Reports say he is in the U.S. for a medical check-up. Should we be surprised? History tells us politicians under fire often find refuge in a hospital gown.
But the more important question is where is Speaker Martin Romualdez in all of this?
He promised transparency, even the abolition of the small committee.
As Speaker, he holds all powers: he can order the Appropriations Secretariat to produce the minutes of small committee meetings, direct Zaldy Co and the other members to explain themselves, and demand accountability.
Instead, he has been silent.
What we see instead is theater. One telling moment came in the most recent tricom hearing when Tiangco suggested inviting Baguio City Mayor Benjie Magalong, who has spoken bravely about the racket in DPWH projects.
Tricom co-chairman Bicol Saro Rep. Terry Ridon suddenly looked nervous, groping for flimsy excuses, visibly uncomfortable at the idea of a real reformer in the room.
A few days earlier, Manila Representative Benny Abante, despite losing to Joey Uy last elections and only later proclaimed by Comelec, dared Mayor Magalong to ‘name names.’
But when Magalong obliged, Abante suddenly lost his appetite to pursue the matter.
The pattern is clear: they are bold only until someone calls their bluff.
This is why the so-called Congress “investigation” looks less like oversight and more like a thief teaching the police how to guard a bank.
Romualdez’s lieutenants are quick to bully resource persons, threaten them with contempt, and bluster on camera. But when confronted by someone credible and unafraid, they stammer and retreat.
If the Speaker cannot demand accountability now, when evidence is fresh and public outrage palpable, when exactly does he plan to lead?
Romualdez cannot keep posturing as a reformer while sidestepping the cancer of congressional pork.
If he truly believes in accountability, the purge must begin now, from the top, enablers down.
Leadership is not a press release, nor can it be subcontracted to political stooges who specialize only in humiliating small people.
If Romualdez cannot lead now, how can he even dream of running in 2028?
Isang paalala, Mr. Speaker.
Ang korapsyon, hindi sa kalsada nagsisimula, nasa budget at sa bulsa ng mga korap na pulitiko bago pa man maibenta ang unang semento.
It tells a story of cracked roads, potholes that jolt the tires, and floodwaters pooling where projects worth hundreds of billions were supposedly completed.
At a roadside pit stop, we shared "mami" with ordinary folks who summed it up best: “Anim na buwan kaming lubog sa baha. Kaya nung lumabas sa balita na nilulublob pala ang pera sa bulsa ng mga taga highways (DPWH) at pulitiko, hindi na kami nagtaka.”
That blunt truth captures the scandal at the Department of Public Works and Highways.
As we’ve discussed in previous columns, corruption doesn’t begin at the construction site.
Long before the first shovel hits the ground or the first truck unloads gravel, the money has already been carved up in backrooms.
The rot begins in the national budget or General Appropriations Act (GAA), inserted by politicians who know exactly where the “favored projects” are and how much they will yield.
Consider the pattern: flood-control allocations that doubled in just three years, billions for dredging, desilting, rock netting, concreting and asphalting.
Provinces like Bulacan, Mindoro, and Iloilo were showered with funds. Yet Bulacan still drowns half the year.
So when Navotas Representative Toby Tiangco asked during the budget briefing: Where is the report of the small committee that altered the 2025 budget? He struck at the heart of the issue.
Because in truth, one who should answer is none other than Ako Bicol Partylist Rep. Zaldy Co, the Appropriations Chair in the last Congress, under whose watch the 2025 budget insertions were made.
Where is he now? Reports say he is in the U.S. for a medical check-up. Should we be surprised? History tells us politicians under fire often find refuge in a hospital gown.
But the more important question is where is Speaker Martin Romualdez in all of this?
He promised transparency, even the abolition of the small committee.
As Speaker, he holds all powers: he can order the Appropriations Secretariat to produce the minutes of small committee meetings, direct Zaldy Co and the other members to explain themselves, and demand accountability.
Instead, he has been silent.
What we see instead is theater. One telling moment came in the most recent tricom hearing when Tiangco suggested inviting Baguio City Mayor Benjie Magalong, who has spoken bravely about the racket in DPWH projects.
Tricom co-chairman Bicol Saro Rep. Terry Ridon suddenly looked nervous, groping for flimsy excuses, visibly uncomfortable at the idea of a real reformer in the room.
A few days earlier, Manila Representative Benny Abante, despite losing to Joey Uy last elections and only later proclaimed by Comelec, dared Mayor Magalong to ‘name names.’
But when Magalong obliged, Abante suddenly lost his appetite to pursue the matter.
The pattern is clear: they are bold only until someone calls their bluff.
This is why the so-called Congress “investigation” looks less like oversight and more like a thief teaching the police how to guard a bank.
Romualdez’s lieutenants are quick to bully resource persons, threaten them with contempt, and bluster on camera. But when confronted by someone credible and unafraid, they stammer and retreat.
If the Speaker cannot demand accountability now, when evidence is fresh and public outrage palpable, when exactly does he plan to lead?
Romualdez cannot keep posturing as a reformer while sidestepping the cancer of congressional pork.
If he truly believes in accountability, the purge must begin now, from the top, enablers down.
Leadership is not a press release, nor can it be subcontracted to political stooges who specialize only in humiliating small people.
If Romualdez cannot lead now, how can he even dream of running in 2028?
Isang paalala, Mr. Speaker.
Ang korapsyon, hindi sa kalsada nagsisimula, nasa budget at sa bulsa ng mga korap na pulitiko bago pa man maibenta ang unang semento.
Sep 5, 2025
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