Ombudsman charges Marcos cousin Martin Romualdez with plunder over flood funds

The Office of the Ombudsman filed a plunder case on Monday, 7 September, against Martin Romualdez, cousin of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and former speaker of the House of Representatives. Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla said the charge covers 7.4 billion pesos, about $118 million, in alleged bribes, anomalous budget insertions and project allocations tied to flood-control works.

Remulla described Romualdez as the "central figure" in a scheme that diverted money meant for flood infrastructure. Earlier investigative papers put the wider pool of suspect projects at 56 billion pesos and named former lawmaker Elizaldy Co among alleged co-conspirators. Remulla told reporters the office does not pick names to avoid. "This case proves that there are no sacred cows." He said more cases against Romualdez and others would follow. Prosecutors also want former public works secretary Manuel Bonoan as a possible state witness.

Plunder under Philippine law is a non-bailable offence for large-scale corruption and carries life imprisonment. Asset freezes and travel bans have already been discussed around the same investigation. Romualdez has denied wrongdoing. He resigned as speaker on 17 September 2025 after his name surfaced, saying he was stepping aside so investigators could work without "undue influence." He remains representative for Leyte's first district.

Marcos put so-called ghost flood projects at the centre of a public address more than a year ago. In his fifth State of the Nation Address he said the Ombudsman was preparing charges against Romualdez and added, in Filipino, that he was president of the Philippines, not of his family or his friends. GMA News Research, working from court filings after that speech, counted 45 individuals and two of the country's top 15 contractors charged across 26 cases by late July 2026. The two firms were St. Timothy Construction, linked to spouses Pacifico and Sarah Discaya, and Sunwest Corporation. Thirty-two Department of Public Works and Highways staff were among those charged.

The politics of the filing matter as much as the pesos. Romualdez ran the House for years and controlled the insertions that move project money into districts. Flood-control budgets grew while Metro Manila and provincial basins still flooded. The charge sheet now says a slice of that money never became a wall or a pump. Whether a Sandiganbayan court accepts Remulla's "central figure" claim will decide if the president's cousin faces a life term or walks out as a man whose relatives made a noisy example of him.

Co-respondents listed with Romualdez include Co and others accused of accumulating public funds. Remulla's 7.4 billion peso figure is the amount attached to this first plunder information, not the full 56 billion peso estimate circulating in the investigation. Readers should keep those two numbers apart. One is what the court is asked to try. The other is what investigators say the system stole.

The next procedural step is the Sandiganbayan's decision on bail and on whether to issue warrants. Plunder's non-bailable design is meant to keep accused officials in custody. Romualdez's lawyers will test that design immediately.