Vindication is closing in for Filipinos battered by failed flood‑control projects, as Ombudsman Boying Remulla delivered one of his strongest signals yet that former House Speaker Martin Romualdez will “certainly” be charged for corruption.
Asked by reporters Thursday on the status of the probe, Remulla urged patience, stressing his office cannot afford to file a weak case against a respondent armed with vast resources and a powerful legal team.
“Hindi kasi puwedeng mag‑file diyan ng mahinang kaso. Sobrang daming pera niyan. Sobrang daming abogado,” Remulla said.
When asked point‑blank if Romualdez would “certainly” be charged, Remulla replied:
“Oo. Bakit hindi?”
He doubled down, accusing Romualdez’s camp of paying off witnesses to recant. Four former bodyguards of Co earlier retracted claims that they delivered suitcases of cash to Romualdez and other officials. Their lawyer, Atty. Levito D. Baligod, said the witnesses were offered at least ₱5 million each to withdraw their statements, while former Marine George Villalon Jr. said the offers later increased to ₱20 million to ₱25 million as the investigation intensified.
According to Remulla, Romualdez’s lawyers have been aggressively parading those reversals because they fit a defense narrative—but he emphasized those statements represent only a fraction of the evidence investigators are examining.
Remulla said he could not yet reveal the exact charges or timing, but hinted that additional developments are already in motion.
“Basta marami ’yan, nandiyan ’yan. Wala akong maibigay na specific answer diyan. Basta makikita n’yo na lang, nandiyan ’yan,” he added.
Pressure on Romualdez intensified after former Public Works Secretary Manuel Bonoan was dropped as an accused in the flood‑control cases before the Sandiganbayan and positioned instead as a people’s witness. Bonoan’s testimony could prove pivotal as investigators trace responsibility in the flood‑control scandal, mapping how decisions, fund releases, and transactions moved through the public works system during the years under scrutiny.
Romualdez now faces a barrage of complaints before the Ombudsman—plunder, direct and indirect bribery, violations of the Anti‑Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, and money laundering—tied to the ₱56‑billion flood‑control kickback scheme. Investigators accuse Romualdez, ex‑Ako Bicol Rep. Zaldy Co, and their allies of amassing ill‑gotten wealth from 2022 to 2025 through diversion and misuse of public funds.
The flood‑control scandal has ignited fury among Filipinos as the nation reels from relentless flooding. The Office of Civil Defense reported 39 deaths—including a 3‑year‑old boy in Olongapo—and more than 9.4 million people affected by the combined force of the southwest monsoon and tropical cyclones.
Political pressure on Romualdez has been escalating, with President Bongbong Marcos using his latest SONA to announce that multiple cases against the disgraced former Speaker are nearing filing—and making it clear that family ties will not shield anyone from accountability. The scandal has ignited outrage across all party lines, with lawmakers demanding that those behind flood‑control corruption face prosecution and imprisonment.
PGMN has attempted to remain courageous and defiant in the face of the over 80 counts/lawsuits Romualdez has filed, fully aware that the whole thing is the former Speaker’s desperate attempt to silence the organization as he currently finds himself in the most vulnerable position of his life. Since declaring war against him 9 weeks ago, PGMN has published nearly 1,700 posts about Romualdez—clearly and honestly exposing him precisely for what he is: the most corrupt Filipino politician of the 21st century.
The barrage has since generated approximately 200 million views across all platforms and is now the most viral anti-corruption campaign against a single person in the history of Philippine social media.
