Zamboanga City 2nd district Rep. Mannix Dalipe (PPAB)

House Majority Leader Zamboanga City 2nd district Rep. Manuel Jose "Mannix" Dalipe poked holes into the falsification of public documents charge that were filed against him, Speaker Martin Romualdez, and former Committee on Appropriations chairman Ako-Bicol Party-list Rep. Zaldy Co.

In a statement Monday, Feb. 10, Dalipe described the filing before the Office of the Ombudsman as politically-motivated.

“Passing the national budget is not a crime; it is a fundamental responsibility of Congress (House of Representatives and Senate). Any attempt to portray it otherwise is a clear distortion of facts and an attack on the legislative process itself," he said.

The complainants were composed of the group Citizens Crime Watch, senatorial aspirant Jimmy Bondoc, and Davao del Norte 1st district Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez.

According to Dalipe, the mere fact that only House leaders were accused in the complaint “raises serious questions about the true intent behind these allegations".

“The budget process is a shared responsibility [between the House and the Senate], yet the focus on one chamber alone suggests a deliberate effort to mislead the public and cast doubt on the integrity of the House’s work,” he said.

“More telling is the involvement of former Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez as one of the complainants," the majority leader said, referring to the House head honcho during the time of former president Rodrigo Duterte.

"As a sitting member of the House during the deliberations of the 2025 General Appropriations Bill (GAB), he (Alvarez) had every opportunity to raise objections, question allocations, and point out any supposed infirmities during plenary discussions. Yet, he did not,” he said.

The GAB is the precursor of the GAA or the enacted annual outlay.

“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,” added Dalipe.

The Zamboanga solon also questioned the timing of the filing of the complaint Monday.

“It is also worth noting that these accusations come at a time when the House is taking a firm stand on accountability, particularly in addressing serious questions surrounding certain budgetary allocations,” he said.

“The timing and nature of these attacks against the House raise suspicions that they are merely retaliatory tactics aimed at deflecting attention from the real issue: the proper and lawful use of taxpayer money,” Dalipe said.

He pointed out that the House “remains committed to upholding its constitutional mandate, ensuring that every peso in the national budget is spent wisely and for the benefit of the nation".

“We will not be swayed by political theatrics meant to divert attention from the real issues of transparency and accountability,” he underscored.