Former Speaker Romualdez Transferred to Quezon City Jail

The Sandiganbayan on Monday ordered former Speaker and incumbent Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez transferred to the New Quezon City Jail Male Dormitory in Payatas, after doctors at Philippine General Hospital (PGH) found him clinically stable and no longer in need of hospital confinement. The anti-graft court’s Third Division issued the order after PGH Director Gerardo D. Legaspi testified that Mr. Romualdez could be discharged at any time following an assessment by about a dozen specialists. Associate Justice Ronald B. Moreno asked Mr. Legaspi whether Mr. Romualdez could already be discharged, to which the PGH director answered in the affirmative. The court then ordered his custody transferred to the Quezon City (QC) jail, where he will be held as a prisoner. Mr. Romualdez had been confined at PGH since Saturday after being transferred from Cardinal Santos Medical Center for an independent medical assessment. He said he respected the court’s decision and would continue following his doctors’ advice while facing the charges against him. “I have always said that I will face the charges against me and answer them before the proper court,” he said in a statement on Monday. “That has not changed. I maintain my innocence.” Mr. Romualdez was arrested last week after the Sandiganbayan issued a warrant following the Ombudsman’s filing of a non-bailable plunder case involving alleged multibillion-peso kickbacks from government flood control projects. The Ombudsman alleged that Mr. Romualdez, fugitive former Party-list Rep. Elizaldy “Zaldy” S. Co and private individuals Jocelyn T. Serenio and Felicito C. Guevarra amassed about P7.4 billion through commissions, commitments, quotas, bribes and other payments linked to government projects from 2022 to 2025. It alleged that Mr. Romualdez exercised “institutional influence” as Speaker through his role in congressional committees, including in Mr. Co’s selection as chairman of the House of Representatives Appropriations Committee and in the legislative and budget process. The Ombudsman also accused Mr. Romualdez of having received cash deliveries at least 15 times from people working for Mr. Co between September 2022 and 2025 as part of a P2-billion monthly quota. Nearly P5 billion of the proceeds was used to establish shell or dummy companies and acquire properties and other assets, the agency said. The anti-graft court issued warrants against Mr. Co and the two private individuals. Mr. Co remains a fugitive, according to the Ombudsman. The case stemmed from a 104-page supplemental complaint filed by the Ombudsman in July against Mr. Romualdez, Mr. Co and several others, recommending charges for plunder, graft, bribery and money laundering. The special ombudsman panel said the respondents diverted and misused public funds and received undue benefits from government transactions, resulting in the unlawful accumulation of about P56 billion in ill-gotten wealth from 2022 to 2025. The P56-billion figure covers the panel’s broader allegations against the respondents, while the P7.4 billion cited in the plunder case refers to the amount the Ombudsman said was amassed through the specific transactions identified in the criminal complaint. — Mark Joseph M. Sanchez