Ombudsman orders Romualdez, Co to answer plunder, graft complaints
Leyte Rep. and former Speaker Martin Romualdez and his coaccused have been ordered to answer complaints filed against them at the Office of the Ombudsman, its spokesperson Assistant Ombudsman Mico Clavano said on Tuesday.
This development came after Ombudsman investigators filed last July 20 a supplemental complaint-affidavit for plunder, direct bribery, graft and corruption, and money laundering against Romualdez, former Ako Bicol Rep. Zaldy Co, and other coaccused.
“I can confirm that an order to file counteraffidavits has been issued by the preliminary investigation team to former Speaker of the House Martin Romualdez, as well as the rest of the respondents,” Clavano said in a statement, adding that Romualdez and his coaccused have 15 days upon receipt of the order to submit their counteraffidavits.
Romualdez’s camp has yet to confirm if it has already received the Ombudsman’s order.
Romualdez and Co were accused by Ombudsman investigators of “concerted and coordinated acts” aimed at “unlawfully amassing, accumulating, and acquiring ill-gotten wealth” amounting to approximately P56 billion from 2022 to 2025.
‘Do what is right’
Investigators further said that billions of pesos in kickbacks from corruption-tainted flood control projects allegedly received by Romualdez were funneled to companies owned by one of his close associates.
President Marcos, in his fifth State of the Nation Address (Sona) on Monday, singled out the case of Romualdez, his first cousin, as proof of his administration’s commitment to pursuing accountability in the flood control scandal.
Even members of his own family and political allies would not be spared from the anticorruption campaign, the President said.
“Painful as it may be for us, we have to do what is right,” Mr. Marcos said. “I am not the President of my family. I am not the President of my friends. I am the President of the Philippines, and my duty is to you, my fellow Filipinos.”
Romualdez, who has repeatedly denied the accusations against him, said he “respects” the President’s stand and that he is ready to prove his innocence.
“It may be painful for my family, but I respect the statements of the President. I never asked for favors or special treatment from anyone,” Romualdez said in a statement on Monday.
“I agree that we have to do the right thing. And the right thing is to follow the process and let the evidence speak. I maintain that I did not do anything illegal. And I am ready to prove this,” he added.
Up to the Ombudsman
It was Mr. Marcos’ Sona speech in 2025 that triggered the investigation and crackdown into flood control anomalies, when he chastised politicians and contractors whom he said were conniving to steal public money, and told them to have some shame.
Eventually, investigations reached the House leadership, and Romualdez was accused of having a hand in multibillion-peso budget insertions that led to corruption-riddled infrastructure projects.
A year after Mr. Marcos made his original accusation, he reported in his latest Sona that over P800 million out of P25 billion worth of ill-gotten assets from anomalous projects have been returned to the government.
The President noted a “huge part of funds salvaged from the corruption in flood control projects” have been allotted to education and health.
As for the filing of cases, he said he would leave it up to the Office of the Ombudsman, while keeping his faith in the “reasonable verdict” of the courts.
Constitutional mandate
The Office of the Ombudsman said it acknowledges Mr. Marcos’ statement of support for the flood control investigations in his Sona.
“We are grateful that this Office has been left free to carry out its constitutional mandate and to follow the evidence wherever it leads, including to those closest to the President himself,” Clavano said.
“This is how accountability is meant to function: no favor asked, none given,” he added. “The Office of the Ombudsman will press forward steadily, fairly and without fear or favor, for as long as the evidence and the law will allow.”
