Sandiganbayan sets hearing on Romualdez's hospital arrest bid

The Sandiganbayan has set a court hearing on Thursday, September 10, to determine if there is a need for former Speaker and incumbent Leyte 1st District Representative Martin Romualdez to remain under hospital arrest. The anti-graft court issued the order for the said hearing a day after Ombudsman prosecutors filed a P7.4 billion plunder charge against Romualdez, former House appropriations panel chairperson Zaldy Co of Ako Bicol party-list, Joselyn Tragua Serenio (personal assistant of Romualdez) and Felicito Cristobal Guevarra (president of Samchan Foreign Exchange Corporation) over allegedly benefitting from a kickback scheme involving the government’s flood control projects. Within the same day of the filing of the plunder case, the Sandiganbayan Third Division issued a warrant of arrest against Romualdez, later served to him by the police at the Cardinal Santos Medical Center where the lawmaker is currently confined. “It be emphasized that the custody of accused Romualdez belongs to the court. If there are concerns regarding the accused's medical condition, it is only this court that can determine whether such condition affects the implementation of the warrant, the confinement of the accused at a hospital, or his commitment to a jail facility. Considering the allegations in accused Romualdez's Manifestation and Urgent Motion which raise serious concerns on his medical condition, the court deems it proper to set the Manifestation and Urgent Motion for hearing on Thursday, September 10, 2026 at 8:30 in the morning,” the Sandiganbayan said. “The Clerk of Court is directed to issue subpoena ad testificandum to Dr. Rody Sy, Dr. Rogelio Libarres, Dr. Kurt Allen V. Sibayan, and Dr. Rosalio P. Torres of Cardinal for the hearing on September 10, 2026, and to furnish PNP CIDG-NCR, as well as the foregoing doctors copies of this Order,” the anti-graft court added, referring to the Philippine National Police Criminal Investigation and Detention Group National Capital Region. In his Manifestation and Urgent Motion for hospital detention, Romualdez said he is currently confined at Cardinal due to the following diseases: hypertensive atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease; In the same September 8 ruling, the Sandiganbayan ordered Romualdez’s doctors to submit all results of pertinent medical examinations of the lawmaker to the anti-graft court. Romualdez, on the other hand, was also ordered by the court to appear before the Sandiganbayan “should his [health] condition permit.” Romualdez, cousin of President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos, Jr., has maintained that he is innocent of all charges and that he will face his charges. —KG, GMA News