Former House Speaker and Leyte Representative Martin Romualdez. Photo courtesy of PNA.
Assistant Ombudsman Mico Clavano has announced that the plunder and money laundering complaint against former House Speaker and Leyte’s First District representative Ferdinand Martin Romualdez have reached the preliminary investigation stage—just one step away from determining if the case can be filed before the Sandiganbayan.
Corollary to this, the anti-graft court had granted the Ombudsman’s petition for a precautionary hold departure order (PHDO) against President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. (PBBM)’s first cousin, as state prosecutors noted that he is a flight risk.
In truth, Clavano has revealed that Romualdez allegedly tried to go abroad despite the travel ban issued by the Sandiganbayan, but the assistant Ombudsman noted that the lawmaker’s camp said he “has never gone into hiding.”
“Despite a precautionary hold departure order issued by the Sandiganbayan, this office has received credible intelligence reports that former Speaker Martin Romualdez has not ceased attempting to leave the country,” Clavano disclosed in a media briefing even as he told reporters that he has urged relevant authorities to “make sure this does not happen.”
In reaction to this, Romualdez’s spokesperson, Atty. Elaine Atienza, asserted that the president’s cousin remains in the country.
“We deny in the strongest possible way any insinuation that Rep. Romualdez has attempted to evade the legal process,” Atienza declared strongly in a public statement.
“Let us repeat: Representative Romualdez has never gone into hiding. He is in the country and will remain in the country until such time that he will be able to clear his name,” she stressed.
Atienza also said that Romualdez has not yet been formally served with a copy of the complaint filed against him.
“We respect all legal processes. That is precisely why we believe this matter should be resolved where our laws require it to be resolved—in the proper legal forum, after both sides have been fully heard,” she noted.
“We remain confident that once the facts are examined objectively and the evidence is tested under the law, Rep. Romualdez will be able to clear his name,” she reiterated.
In the meantime, Clavano explained that the PHDO petition against Romualdez has its basis on the complaint-affidavit in “the alleged kickback scheme tied to flood control projects, purportedly masterminded by the respondent, with the total amount of such kickbacks reaching approximately (₱56 billion).”
Romualdez, however, has denied being the mastermind of such a scheme.
Still, the plunder complaint against him is now the subject of a “full and formal inquiry” where he and his other co-respondents will be given chance to answer the complaints against them.
“We are not done collecting evidence. We are not done filing cases,” Clavano emphasuzed. “The investigation reveals more and more each day and each week.”
“Our investigation identifies former Speaker Romualdez as the central figure in a scheme built on the diversion of public funds meant for flood control projects—funds that were supposed to shield Filipino communities from the very floods that, year after year, take their homes, their livelihoods, and too often, their lives,” the assistant Ombudsman cited.
