Romualdez lawyer: Suspension doesn’t mean he’s guilty
The lawyer of former Speaker and Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez said on Wednesday the Sandiganbayan Third Division’s 90-day preventive suspension against his client did not mean that he was guilty, especially since his trial was still ongoing.
“Suspension is not a conviction. The court itself said the allegations must still be proven. Accusations are not enough, there must be evidence,” lawyer Ade Fajardo said in a statement.
Fajardo added that preventive suspension is mandated by law. Under Section 13 of Republic Act No. 3019, or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, an incumbent public officer facing a case related to plunder or fraud must be suspended.
The Ombudsman charged Romualdez with plunder over allegations that he received P7.44 billion in kickbacks from funding for government infrastructure projects in the 2022 to 2025 national budgets.
According to Fajardo, the court still has not established that Romualdez received illegal commissions or kickbacks.
“An allegation is not evidence. A valid information is not a conviction. The prosecution must still prove its case beyond reasonable doubt,” he said.
He added, however, that they respect the court’s decision and will exhaust all legal remedies available to prove the innocence of Romualdez who is currently detained at the New Quezon City Jail male dormitory.
The Third Division, meanwhile, again summoned Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) officials after it inspected the jail in Payatas, Quezon City on Tuesday.
Clerk of court Dennis Pulma said the following were ordered to appear at 8:30 a.m. on Nov. 12 before the court: Jail Superintendent Maria Lourdes Pacion, medical officer Henry Fabro and the officer in charge of the closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras inside the facility.
Pacion and Fabro were summoned by the court on Nov. 5 after retired newspaper columnist Ramon Tulfo claimed in a social media post that Romualdez had been going in and out of jail. To escape detection, Tulfo said the jail warden would cut off power to the prison to disable all CCTV cameras.
But Tulfo later said he had been fed wrong information.
Blind spot?
In an eight-page order on Tuesday, the Third Division expressed concern, saying that during an inspection, it observed that many of the CCTV cameras inside the jail “were not functioning.”
It also took note of the BJMP officials’ disclosure that of the 450 CCTVs installed, only 220 were operational but none of these covered the area where Romualdez’s cell was located.
The court had ordered BJMP chief Jail Director Efren Nemeño to submit within 10 days a report on the condition of the jail’s CCTV surveillance system.
A support group for political prisoners has urged authorities to put Romualdez and his coaccused in regular jail cells after it was reported that the former Speaker had a personal aide looking after his needs while in detention.
Pacion earlier said she allowed the arrangement because of Romualdez’s unstable mental health.
“Kapatid welcomes the Sandiganbayan’s inspection as a necessary check on compliance with the court’s commitment order. But the simplest and most just solution is to transfer Romualdez and his coaccused to regular jail cells alongside ordinary inmates. No special accommodations, no special privileges,” said Kapatid spokesperson Fides Lim. —WITH A REPORT FROM GILLIAN VILLANUEVA
