Former Philippine House Speaker Martin Romualdez arrested over alleged $118 million kickback scheme
Former Philippine House Speaker Martin Romualdez, a cousin of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., has been arrested over allegations that he helped collect billions of pesos in kickbacks from government infrastructure projects.
Former Philippine House Speaker Martin Romualdez, a cousin of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., was arrested Monday after the country’s anti-graft court issued a warrant in a 7.44-billion-peso ($118 million) plunder case involving alleged kickbacks from government flood-control and other infrastructure projects.
The Philippines’ Office of the Ombudsman filed the case against Romualdez and three other defendants: former lawmaker Zaldy Co, Romualdez’s personal assistant Joselyn Tragua Serenio, and foreign exchange company president Felicito Cristobal Guevarra. The Sandiganbayan anti-graft court subsequently found probable cause and issued arrest warrants for all four, with no bail recommended.
Prosecutors allege that between 2022 and 2025, Romualdez and his co-defendants accumulated billions of pesos through commissions, kickbacks, and bribes from contractors and other entities seeking government infrastructure work. The allegations center particularly on flood-control projects, which have become the subject of a wider corruption investigation in the Philippines.
Romualdez, who remains a member of the House of Representatives for Leyte’s first district, was served with the arrest warrant at Cardinal Santos Medical Center in San Juan City, where he had been hospitalized. Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla said Romualdez had suffered what officials described as a cardiovascular event, unstable blood pressure and an anxiety attack. Police placed him under guard at the hospital following his arrest.
Romualdez’s lawyer, Ade Fajardo, said in a statement that his client would face the allegations through the legal process and was not seeking special treatment.
“We respect the courts and the legal process,” Fajardo said. He added that criminal liability should be determined by evidence presented in court and that Romualdez was asking only for the same due process and fair hearing afforded to other Filipinos.
The case places one of the country’s most powerful political figures at the center of the government’s widening investigation into alleged corruption in infrastructure spending. Romualdez is a first cousin of Marcos and served as House speaker before stepping down from the post. The presidential palace said it respected the Ombudsman’s decision to prosecute him, adding that those responsible for wrongdoing should be held accountable regardless of whether they are relatives, allies or political opponents of the president.