Romualdez Ready to Face Ombudsman Charges, Lawyer Says

MANILA, Philippines — Former House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez is prepared to face the complaints that the Office of the Ombudsman may file against him over his alleged participation in the multibillion-peso flood control scandal, his lawyer Ade Fajardo said on Sunday. In a statement, Fajardo said “there is no evidence” implicating Romualdez in the graft scandal, despite swirling claims he helped channel funding for dubious projects in the annual budgets overseen by the House as its leader. “There is truly no proof or evidence against him in the flood control anomalies. There is not even a preliminary investigation yet, as the case remains in build‑up status,” he said in Filipino. On Friday, Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla said his office is “very close” to filing plunder charges against Romualdez. The Leyte lawmaker is accused of masterminding a flood control graft scheme in which politicians, state engineers and contractors siphoned off public funds, through substandard or even nonexistent dike and flood wall projects. “It’s actually very simple,” Fajardo said, noting that since Romualdez had no hand in the graft scandal and “there will be no evidence” against him. He added that Romualdez is prepared to face the Ombudsman’s probe head on, dismissing concerns that he will flee the country to evade the charges tied to the corruption issue. “The former speaker is not evading accountability in facing all of this. He voluntarily stepped down as speaker to give way to the investigation,” Fajardo said. “He remains present, busy as Leyte’s representative, and, of course, he is not hiding,” he added. “He is willing to face everything if there is any evidence being alleged.” Fajardo repeated that the Ombudsman has not yet held a preliminary investigation concerning the allegations against Romualdez. “There is still no preliminary investigation, [and] he has not even been subpoenaed by the Office of the Ombudsman,” he said. Fajardo believes that Romualdez should be given a chance to formally respond to the accusations before any conclusion is drawn. “If we look back, it was the ICI itself that released findings in its investigation showing no liability,” the lawyer recalled. “Those were the expressed findings of the ICI when the records were brought to the Office of the Ombudsman.”