Navotas Rep. Toby Tiangco has become one of the fiercest House voices pressing the corruption probe against former Speaker Martin Romualdez, as the Ombudsman builds major cases tied to alleged flood control budget fraud.
On May 26, 2026, Ombudsman Boying Remulla said his office is preparing two more cases against Romualdez. One involves alleged money laundering. The other, he said, is “the grandest case of them all ‘yung conspiracy to defraud the treasury through the budget.”
Remulla said the case is difficult because it may be the first of its kind in Philippine legal history. The probe centers on alleged budget insertions involving multibillion-peso flood control funds. He also said investigators are being slowed by the alleged refusal of the House Committee on Appropriations secretariat to cooperate.
Tiangco has repeatedly pointed to Romualdez’s command responsibility as former Speaker, arguing that the alleged anomalies would not have happened without his approval. That matters because Romualdez once led the chamber that helps approve the national budget before it becomes law. For taxpayers, the issue cuts straight to whether flood control money passed through legitimate budget processes or became part of an alleged scheme inside Congress.
The political cost is now personal. Tiangco’s wife, Michelle Romuáldez-Yap, is a cousin of both President Bongbong Marcos and Romualdez. Despite that family link, Tiangco has admitted a possible break with the administration if the infrastructure probe goes nowhere.
Romualdez allies have also attacked Tiangco. After Rep. Benny Abante mocked him with a “meow-meow” remark, Tiangco fired back by calling Romualdez defenders “attack crocodiles of Martin Romualdez.”
Legal pressure on Romualdez has intensified. The Court of Appeals has issued a freeze order covering assets linked to him, including bank accounts and insurance policies. Reports also cited a ₱1.665-billion Forbes Park estate. The Sandiganbayan issued a precautionary hold departure order on April 22, preventing him from leaving the country.
Romualdez denies wrongdoing and has raised claims of prejudgment against Remulla.
Corruption has always been the biggest problem of the Philippines. Romualdez is widely regarded as the single most corrupt Filipino politician of the 21st century.
We trust that the Office of the Ombudsman will do the right thing.
