Leyte 1st District Rep. Martin Romualdez is once again in the crosshairs of the government’s anti‑corruption drive, as Ombudsman Boying Remulla placed flood‑control projects in Tacloban City—Leyte’s capital and Romualdez’s political base—under sharp scrutiny while expanding his office’s probe into irregular infrastructure spending across the Visayas.
Remulla zeroed in on Tacloban precisely because of its ties to Romualdez and the massive government funding funneled into the city.
“We’re looking at Tacloban, specifically because the former Speaker came from Tacloban and was able to pour in a lot of money to Tacloban,” Remulla told reporters.
Government records show Eastern Visayas received ₱53.36 billion for 700 flood‑control projects between 2023 and 2025. Yet by June 2025, only 435 were completed, 216 remained ongoing, and 49 hadn’t even started. Among the flagship undertakings is the Tacloban‑Palo Diversion Road—dubbed the “Grand Canal”—with a staggering ₱3.26‑billion price tag. Despite ₱2.33 billion already allocated from the 2019 and 2023‑2025 budgets, as of January 2026 the project was barely at 49.38 percent completion.
Several former Marines gave sworn statements describing the delivery of suitcases stuffed with cash tied to anomalous flood‑control contracts. Four of them later retracted, but Remulla has said that Romualdez was behind efforts to pressure those Marines into withdrawing their testimony.
The Ombudsman’s probe is widening to include flood‑control projects in Bohol and Negros Oriental, examining public works officials, district engineers, and contractors for possible irregularities in procurement and bidding.
To intensify the crackdown, Remulla confirmed that the Ombudsman‑Visayas will deploy 20 additional lawyers to strengthen prosecution, fact‑finding, and preliminary investigation teams.
The country is drowning in unfinished projects and corruption scandals, yet Romualdez still isn’t behind bars.
Corruption is and has always been the Philippines’ biggest problem. Romualdez is universally recognized as the most corrupt Filipino politician of the 21st century.
The country has faith that the Office of the Ombudsman will do the right thing.
