Ombudsman: Plunder raps vs Escudero, Romualdez set in May
The Office of the Ombudsman is preparing plunder charges against Sen. Francis Escudero and Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez in connection with the flood control scandal and expects to file them next month.
Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla, in a press conference on Monday, said the charges are “flood control-related, in so many ways.”
“You’ve heard the story from the witnesses in the Senate, and if you think about it, there was a conspiracy to commit plunder,” he said.
Romualdez’s lawyer, Ade Fajardo, however, stressed that the Ombudsman’s statement was only a confirmation that complaints will be prepared and that no case has been filed.
“We respect the processes of the Office of the Ombudsman and will fully cooperate if and when a formal proceeding is initiated […] We want to emphasize that, to-date, there is no evidence linking Rep. Romualdez to any ghost and substandard projects pertaining to the flood control issue,” Fajardo said in a statement.
“We remain confident that these matters will be resolved based on evidence and due process—not politics or speculation,” he added.
Escudero had yet to issue a statement as of Monday night.
Other individuals
Asked when the charges will be filed, Remulla replied: “Within the month of May. We are just tying up things that have to be there for us to make a case out of it.”
Aside from Romualdez and Escudero, the Ombudsman said several individuals will also be implicated in this plunder case, which, he said, could also include officials from the Department of Budget and Management.
According to him, his office has looked into the 2024 and 2025 national budgets as the basis for this plunder case.
Remulla added that “it could go back as far as the time of Speaker [Lord Allan] Velasco.”
The Inquirer has reached out to Velasco for comment but has yet to receive a response.
Velasco served as the Speaker from October 2020 to June 2022, during the term of former President Rodrigo Duterte.
Various investigations
When the corruption issue on flood control projects erupted last year, the names of Escudero and Romualdez were mentioned in the investigations conducted by different government bodies.
Escudero and Romualdez previously led the two chambers in the 19th Congress and briefly in the 20th Congress. Escudero was ousted as Senate President on Sept. 8, 2025, while Romualdez stepped down from the speakership nine days later.
In November 2025, Remulla named Escudero and Romualdez among those who should be held liable for either directly facilitating or turning a blind eye to corruption-tainted flood control and other infrastructure projects in the past several years.
In December 2025, a 576-page report signed by six of nine minority senators found Romualdez liable for being either complicit in the anomalous flood control scandal or negligent in his job as the head of the lower chamber amid the mess.
While the bloc did not recommend a specific charge for the former Speaker, they emphasized that Romualdez “cannot simply absolve himself” from any accountability in the controversy.
In December 2025, Remulla reiterated that they were conducting case buildups against several high-profile officials, including Escudero, following the recommendation of the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) “because of the gravity of the allegations.”
The ICI’s referrals were based on affidavits and testimonies given by former Public Works Undersecretary Roberto Bernardo during a Senate blue ribbon committee hearing on alleged corruption in infrastructure deals. —WITH REPORTS FROM GABRIEL PABICO LALU AND INQUIRER RESEARCH
