Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa has publicly urged House Speaker and Leyte 1st District Representative Martin Romualdez to step down from his post, citing mounting issues of national debt, corruption, and questionable government spending.
In an open letter released Friday, September 12, Dela Rosa said he was speaking not only as a senator but also on behalf of retired Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and Philippine National Police (PNP) officers, UP Vanguards, and concerned taxpayers.
“Dear Speaker Romualdez, we, the undersigned AFP and PNP retired officers, UP Vanguards, and concerned Filipino citizens and taxpayers, demand that you immediately resign as Congressman of the First District of Leyte and Speaker of the House of Representatives,” the letter stated.
Dela Rosa laid out four main reasons behind his demand. First, he claimed that Romualdez showed disregard for the country’s financial stability. He pointed to the ₱15.589 trillion national debt as of August 2024, warning that the 2025 budget proposal of ₱6.352 trillion far exceeded the projected national revenue of ₱4.64 trillion. According to Finance Secretary Rafael Recto, this would create a deficit of ₱1.712 trillion.
Second, the senator accused Romualdez of misusing ₱26.7 billion from the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations (AKAP) program. He alleged that the funds were squandered on a “fake People’s Initiative” to push for constitutional amendments.
Third, Dela Rosa criticized Romualdez for failing to safeguard public funds from corruption, which he claimed drains around 20% of the annual budget. He further cited BizNews Asia’s description of Congress as “The Philippines’ biggest criminal syndicate,” saying Romualdez had done nothing to remove this label.
Lastly, he raised concerns over reports of Romualdez’s alleged lavish spending, including a multi-million-dollar donation to Harvard University and the purchase of a 20% stake in EEI worth ₱1.25 billion.
“Under your leadership in the House of Representatives, you have been spending the taxpayers’ money (paid by our blood, sweat, and tears), as if you owned the Philippine government. Based on the foregoing observations, we want you out of the House of Representatives. NOW!” Dela Rosa wrote.
As of writing, Speaker Romualdez has yet to state in response. His name was also recently dragged into the Senate’s probe on anomalous flood control projects, after contractor Curlee Discaya linked him to lawmakers allegedly benefiting from kickbacks.
bato is in complete ignorance.. he himself should be the one to resign for being an incompetent and self serving! this corruption in the DPWH started during his evil duterte’s term, during mark villar’s term as DPWH secretary and the discaya’s and bong go’s family company are the one’s started all of this greed!
So till today you are still in dreamland. Coz what have the present administration done for you. Is your life being uplifted and are you not still suffering???