FORMER House Speaker and Leyte Representative Ferdinand Martin Romualdez was formally served an arrest warrant on Monday night, September 7, at Cardinal Santos Medical Center in San Juan City, where he remains confined.
Interior and Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla confirmed the arrest, stating that Romualdez is now classified as a “person deprived of liberty.”
Remulla, accompanied by Philippine National Police Chief Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. and CIDG Director Maj. Gen. Alexander Morico II, served the warrant following orders from the Sandiganbayan Third Division.
The warrant stems from a ₱7.4-billion plunder case filed by the Office of the Ombudsman earlier that day over alleged irregularities and kickbacks tied to government flood control projects from 2022 to 2025.
Also charged were former Ako Bicol Rep. Zaldy Co and executive officials of Samchan Foreign Exchange Corp.
Romualdez was admitted to the hospital around 4:00 PM due to a “cardiovascular event,” with doctors noting unstable blood pressure and panic attacks.
Remulla stated that armed police officers have been stationed outside his room and around the hospital premises.
Government doctors will evaluate his medical state daily alongside hospital physicians to determine when he is fit to appear in court.
“We will check every day until he is well enough to be presented to court,” Remulla said, emphasizing that Romualdez will be transferred to the Quezon City Jail in Payatas once medically cleared. “There will be no special treatment.”
Defending the charges, Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla and Malacañang reiterated that accountability remains paramount regardless of political ties, pointing out that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. supported equal enforcement of the law.
In response, Romualdez’s legal counsel, Ade Fajardo, stressed that his client is ready to face the charges legally and requests only due process.
Romualdez previously denied the allegations, maintaining he was not part of budget bicameral deliberations and refusing to be made a scapegoat in the ongoing flood control probe.
