Romualdez aide left PH before travel ban in plunder case: BI

MANILA, Philippines — The personal assistant of former House speaker Martin Romualdez, who is charged with him in a P7.44-billion plunder case, left the Philippines before the Sandiganbayan banned them from exiting the country, according to the Bureau of Immigration. Joselyn Tragua Serenio left the country prior to the issuance of a hold departure order, the bureau said. However, another co-accused, Felicito Cristobal Guevarra, president of Samchan Foreign Exchange Corporation, remains in the Philippines. The Sandiganbayan Third Division issued the hold departure order on September 7. The BI did not give details of Serenio's travel or other personal information, citing the Data Privacy Act of 2012. Romualdez, Serenio, Guevarra and former House appropriations chair Elizaldy Co are the persons accused in the P7.4 billion plunder case before the Sandiganbayan. The former House speaker pleaded not guilty yesterday and his defense team plans to file a petition for bail. The Ombudsman filed charges against Romualdez for allegedly benefiting from kickbacks of anomalous flood control works from 2022 to 2025. The charge sheet says some of the money was delivered to properties owned, occupied or linked to Romualdez, where Serenio and others allegedly acting for him received it. Guevarra, meanwhile, is accused of facilitating simulated dollar-to-peso transactions through Samchan. Romualdez is the only one of the four in custody. Co is in Europe, and a request for an Interpol red notice against him is still pending. Sandiganbayan found probable cause against all four accused and recommended no bail. Romualdez's arrest is the most high-profile yet in the flood control scandal, which drew massive public outrage last year and set off a series of protests.