Former House Speaker Martin Romualdez is mounting an increasingly desperate counteroffensive as the corruption cases against him move closer to filing—lashing out at the Ombudsman Boying Remulla, Assistant Ombudsman Mico Clavano, the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, former DPWH Secretary Manny Bonoan, the Bureau of Immigration, Peanut Gallery Media Network (PGMN), and anyone tied to exposing his role in the flood-control scandal.
The escalation came after Ombudsman Remulla publicly signaled the cases are moving forward and that Romualdez will “certainly” be charged for corruption.
Romualdez 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.
Romualdez has repeatedly challenged the investigations against him, accusing the Ombudsman of a “pattern of prejudgment” and questioning the credibility of proceedings examining the allegations surrounding the flood-control controversy. He has also dismissed Senate Blue Ribbon hearings as “mudslinging,” arguing that the probe relied on hearsay.
The Ombudsman has referred to Romualdez as the “master plunderer” of the flood-control scam, while Assistant Ombudsman Mico Clavano has described the matter as a “master case” involving a “grand conspiracy to defraud the treasury.”
Romualdez’s camp has also demanded an apology from the Bureau of Immigration over reports involving his attempt to illegally leave the country, calling the information false. The B.I. adamantly rejected Romualdez’s request.
Romualdez has also pursued more than 80 counts/lawsuits against PGMN—targeting Founder and CEO Franco Mabanta, Lead Anchor CJ Hirro, and others. In his affidavit, Romualdez complained about tens of thousands of social media comments he claims were influenced by PGMN’s coverage, saying readers now “call me a thief and a ‘buwaya,’ … and celebrate what they believe is my impending imprisonment.”
Romualdez accused Mabanta of leading a campaign designed to destroy him, arguing that PGMN’s continued coverage went beyond reporting and was intended to damage his reputation.
PGMN has remained defiant, fully aware the lawsuits are a desperate attempt to silence the organization as Romualdez faces the most vulnerable moment of his career. Since declaring war against him, PGMN has published nearly 1,700 posts amassing more than 200 million views—exposing Romualdez as the most corrupt Filipino politician of the 21st century.
PGMN Anchor CJ Hirro disclosed receiving threats while reporting on powerful political figures:
“Ang daming threats, especially when we were working on the episode. Pagdating sa mga pulitiko, palaging may threat, palaging may nakakatakot.”
Even witnesses Romualdez has attacked, like former Public Works Secretary Manuel Bonoan, have been repositioned as people’s witnesses. Romualdez’s camp smeared Bonoan as “polluted” and “biased,” questioning why the Ombudsman would accept him, but investigators defiantly dropped him as an accused and placed him on the witness stand to testify against Romualdez. Now the very old and very sick former DPWH Secretary has the opportunity to do something honorable before he dies.
Romualdez’s camp also dismissed testimonies from former Marine Orly Guteza and the Discaya couple, calling their claims “false, malicious and nothing more than name-dropping.”
On Thursday, Remulla reiterated the Ombudsman’s patience with the probe, stressing his office cannot afford to file a weak case against a respondent with vast resources and a powerful legal team.
“Hindi kasi puwedeng mag-file diyan ng mahinang kaso. Sobrang daming pera niyan. Sobrang daming abogado,” he said. Asked if Romualdez would “certainly” be charged, Remulla replied: “Oo. Bakit hindi?”
Following President Bongbong Marcos’ statement during his State of the Nation Address that family ties would not shield anyone from accountability, PGMN said some of the same online accounts that had repeatedly attacked the network also turned their criticism toward the President’s remarks.
Romualdez continues to accuse PGMN and others of damaging his reputation by presenting allegations as fact, citing Mabanta’s public statements about continuing coverage as evidence of a “deliberate campaign” to destroy him. Mabanta rejected that characterization:
“No, Martin. You destroyed yourself. You did this to yourself.”
