By el Amigo
MANILA — Former House Speaker Martin Romualdez and several other respondents have been ordered by the Office of the Ombudsman to file their counter-affidavits over complaints stemming from the alleged misuse of funds for flood control projects.
Assistant Ombudsman Mico Clavano confirmed that the directive was issued by the preliminary investigation team handling the case. He said those named in the complaints have 15 days upon receiving the order to respond to the allegations.
Once all counter-affidavits have been submitted, the case will be deemed ready for resolution by the investigating panel, Clavano added.
The complaints, filed on July 20 by a special Ombudsman investigation panel, include charges of plunder, graft, direct and indirect bribery, and money laundering against Romualdez, former Ako Bicol Representative Elizaldy Co, and other respondents.
Investigators alleged that about PHP56 billion in illicit wealth was amassed from 2022 to 2025 through the diversion of public funds earmarked for government flood control projects.
The development came a day after President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., in his fifth State of the Nation Address, announced that cases connected to the alleged flood control scandal involving his cousin, Romualdez, were nearing formal filing before the Office of the Ombudsman.
The President said the investigation was conducted objectively and based solely on the evidence gathered.
He noted that the probe has already led to criminal cases and arrests involving contractors, high-ranking Department of Public Works and Highways officials, and legislators.
Marcos also said the government has begun efforts to recover misused public funds while stopping additional disbursements for flood control projects found to be defective, fictitious, or nonexistent.
elamigo/xf
