Romualdez on Corruption Probe: ‘I’m no scapegoat’
Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez on Tuesday broke his silence over allegations linking him to the controversial portions of the 2025 national budget, saying he would not allow himself “to be turned into the scapegoat so that others who are actually accountable can walk away clean.”
Romualdez, a cousin of President Marcos, served as Speaker in the 19th Congress and kept the position early in the 20th. Two months into his second stint, he was forced to step down after being dragged into the public works corruption scandal and the blame game over so-called budget insertions.
Budget watchdogs consistently denounce insertions as last-minute, graft-prone items included in the budget bill without the required transparency.
In a video message released on Tuesday afternoon, Romualdez disputed claims that he interfered in the discussions, saying the budget decisions were made by only two officials—former Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero and former House appropriations chair Elizaldy “Zaldy” Co, who then represented the Ako Bicol party list.
Romualdez also asked the Office of the Ombudsman to stop singling him out in the flood control controversy, saying investigators should pursue other leads and not focus solely on him amid the furor over “ghost” projects and kickbacks.
Earlier on Tuesday, Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remullla said he was not allowing Romualdez to leave the country for a medical checkup in Singapore in view of the investigation into the flood control projects and also because his office was seeking a freeze order on the ex-Speaker’s assets. (See related story on Page A2.)
“Accountability cannot be selective,” Romualdez said. “If there are sworn accounts pointing to other personalities across the chain, whether in budget deliberations or in implementation, then those leads must be pursued with the same seriousness and the same urgency.”
“If this is a political play to push me out and close the story, tarnishing my name and my reputation, then I am telling everyone now: I will not go quietly, and I will not go alone,” the former Speaker said.
“I will not be the fall guy for other people’s corruption,” stressed Romualdez.
No role in budget decision
Romualdez said he was not part of either the bicameral conference committee or the “small committee” that made changes to the 2025 general appropriations bill after it was approved by the House of Representatives and the Senate.
“With respect to how the budget was deliberated in Congress, let me say this categorically: I was not a part of the bicam and the small committee budget deliberations. Yes, I was updated on the general outcomes of the deliberations, but I had no visibility with regard to the specific details of the discussions, including the particular amendments or insertions approved during these closed-door deliberations,” he said.
“Records would show that I did not participate in those meetings and I was not privy to what exactly transpired during the deliberations. However, two people were instrumental in making those budget decisions: Chiz Escudero and Zaldy Co,” Romualdez added.
Co, as appropriations panel chair, was part of bicameral conference discussions and the small committee. He remains in the custody of Czech Republic authorities after being arrested last week for attempting to cross the German border without proper travel documentation.
Escudero, meanwhile, found himself in the hot seat after several news reports revealed documents claiming that he made P142.7 billion worth of insertions during the bicameral conference committee hearing on the 2025 national budget, just before it was ratified by Congress.
According to Romualdez, it was impossible for him to mastermind the 2025 budget irregularities and the infrastructure corruption scandal as not one person, or even Congress, implements an infrastructure project.
“And once the budget becomes law, the work of implementing flood control projects, or any project for that matter, is solely within the purview of the Executive [Department], including the DPWH (Department of Public Works and Highways). Certainly not by legislators,” he said.
“I understand the anger of the public,” Romualdez said, adding that “the Filipino people have every right to be angry because stolen public funds are taxes derived from hard-earned money.”
“I’m not asking the public to look away. I’m asking everyone to look where the evidence points, not where it is politically convenient or politically motivated,” the former Speaker added.
‘Weaponizing’ Co
According to Romualdez, he had chosen not to speak out until Tuesday because “I believed in our legal system and in the rule of law.”
“But my silence is now being exploited with politically engineered and fabricated narratives. What’s even more disturbing—and this is something that cannot be ignored—is that there are emerging indications that certain sectors are attempting to weaponize individuals, including Zaldy Co, to construct a narrative that serves their own interests,” he said.
Romualdez was referring to Co’s claims in a video statement released last November where the he claimed the existence of a grand conspiracy to pocket funds from the annual budget.
“So, when the legal process is being used against me as a political demolition job, then, I will have no choice but to defend myself. And I will defend myself fully,” he added.
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