Metro Manila, Philippines – Presidential cousin and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez said he “will not go alone” or take the fall for corruption, as he confronted allegations linking him to the multibillion-peso flood control scam.
“I will not allow myself to be turned into the scapegoat so that others who are actually accountable can walk away clean. If this is a political play to push me out and close the story, tarnishing my name and my reputation, then I am telling everyone now: I will not go quietly, and I will not go alone. I will not be the fall guy for other people’s corruption,” he said on Tuesday, April 21.
The Ombudsman has asked the anti-graft court Sandiganbayan to bar Romualdez from leaving the country pending the flood control scandal investigation.
The Leyte lawmaker said he will no longer stay silent, noting that his “silence has been abused and weaponized to build a narrative that is false, twisted, and unfair.”
He advised the ombudsman to follow the rule of law and due process.
“Do not stop where it is politically convenient. Do not settle for the easiest headline. Do not confuse public pressure with prosecutorial duty,” Romualdez said.
“This is a serious matter, and it should be handled with seriousness, not with haste, theatrics or shortcuts,” he added, saying he is ready to address allegations in the proper forum.
The ombudsman has yet to file a case against Romualdez.
The then-Independent Commission for Infrastructure earlier recommended further investigation on the former speaker to determine if he should face corruption charges in the flood control scandal.
‘How can I be the mastermind?’
Meanwhile, Romualdez shunned claims that he masterminded the scam, arguing that it is not the Congress that implements infrastructure projects.
The former speaker said command responsibility is more on the executive branch that has actual supervision and operational control on the ground.
“Congress does not build flood control projects. Congress does not conduct procurement. Congress does not inspect whether a project was actually completed. Congress does not certify whether the work done was substandard or not,” he said.
Romualdez also said his district had no substandard and non-existent projects.
“If I were truly involved in a fraudulent scheme of this nature, then the first place one would expect to see that pattern would be in my own district, in the projects most easily associated with me. You would have seen it in Tacloban. But I say this with absolute certainty: you won’t see it in my district,” Romualdez said.
Budget decisions under Co, Escudero
The former speaker also addressed allegations implicating him in budget insertions, tagging lawmakers which he said are key figures in budget decisions.
“Records would show that I did not participate in those meetings and I was not privy to what exactly transpired during the deliberations. However, two people were instrumental in making those budget decisions: Chiz Escudero and Zaldy Co,” he said, pertaining to the former senate president and ex-appropriations chairman, respectively.
Romualdez said while he was updated on general outcomes of deliberations, he had no “visibility” on amendments and insertions during the bicameral conference committee that were held closed doors.
“And in the appropriations committee itself, there are already more than 100 members, with many vice chairs….So I have to ask: if there were real concerns about irregularities in the budget process, why were these not formally raised during deliberations, or even during the plenary?,” he said.
In 2025, Co, a fugitive from justice, tagged Romualdez and his cousin, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in the alleged ₱100 billion insertion.
Romualdez was also tagged to be a recipient of kickbacks from flood control projects, which he had denied.
