Romualdez ordered to answer raps in Ombudsman

MANILA, Philippines — Former House Speaker Martin Romualdez and his co-accused have been ordered to answer complaints filed against him before the Office of the Ombudsman, its spokesperson, Assistant Ombudsman Mico Clavano, said on Tuesday.

This development came after the investigators filed last July 20 a supplemental complaint-affidavit for plunder, direct bribery, graft and corruption, and money laundering against Romualdez, former Ako Bicol Rep. Zaldy Co, and other co-accused.

“I can confirm that an order to file a counter-affidavit has been issued by the preliminary investigation team to former Speaker of the House Martin Romualdez, as well as the rest of the respondents,” Clavano said in a statement.

Clavano said the order states that Romualdez and his co-accused have 15 days upon receipt of the order to submit the counter-affidavit. 

Romualdez’s camp has yet to confirm if they have already received the Ombudsman order.

Romualdez and Co were accused by Ombudsman investigators of alleged “concerted and coordinated acts” in “unlawfully amassing, accumulating, and acquiring ill-gotten wealth” amounting to approximately P56 billion from 2022 to 2025.

READ: Probe of Romualdez, Co tags firms, ‘maleta’ use

Investigators further said that billions of pesos in kickbacks from corruption-tainted flood control projects allegedly received by Romualdez were purportedly funneled to companies owned by one of his close associates.

President Ferdinand Marcos, in his fifth State of the Nation Address on Monday, said, “we have to do what is right,” as the anti-graft body prepares to file cases against his cousin, Romualdez.

READ: Sona 2026: Marcos says cases vs Romualdez to proceed

Clavano said the Office of the Ombudsman acknowledges Marcos’ report on the flood control investigations in his Sona.

“We are likewise grateful that this Office has been left free to carry out its constitutional mandate and to follow the evidence wherever it leads, including to those closest to the President himself,” Clavano said in a statement.

“This is how accountability is meant to function: no favor asked, none given,” he continued. “The Office of the Ombudsman will press forward steadily, fairly and without fear or favor, for as long as the evidence and the law will allow.”

Romualdez said he “respects” Marcos’s statement, as Marcos has repeatedly denied the charges against him and is ready to prove he did nothing illegal. /jpv