Jamaine Punzalan

Speaker Martin Romualdez delivers a speech, September 17, 2025. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News

Article (news)

20th CONGRESS- House of Representatives

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/177676696690120250917-house-romualdez-resignation-MT5.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Speaker Martin Romualdez delivers a speech, September 17, 2025. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News</span></span></span></div><p>MANILA — Former House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez on Tuesday said he would “not allow myself to be turned into the scapegoat” in the flood control mess and urged the Office of the Ombudsman to “follow the evidence.” </p><p>Romualdez said he previously stayed silent “out of respect for the legal process”. But he said his silence “has been abused and weaponized to build a narrative that is false, twisted, and unfair” and he &quot;will not keep quiet anymore.&quot;</p><p>“I will not allow myself to be turned into the scapegoat so that others who are actually accountable can walk away clean,” Romualdez said. </p><p>“If this is a political play to push me out and close the story, tarnishing my name and my reputation, then I am telling everyone now: I will not go quietly, and I will not go alone. I will not be the fall guy for other people’s corruption,” he said.</p><p>Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla this month said his office was preparing <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/4/6/ombudsman-preparing-plunder-raps-vs-romualdez-escudero-over-national-budget-issues-1447">plunder raps</a> against Romualdez and former Senate President Chiz Escudero in relation to national budget issues tied to the flood control scandal.</p><p>But Romualdez told the Ombudsman: “If your office truly believes in justice, then follow the sworn statements, follow the records, and follow the evidence all the way.”  <br/><br/></p><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ztS8zCtL7iI?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div><p>“Do not stop where it is politically convenient. Do not settle for the easiest headline. Do not confuse public pressure with prosecutorial duty. What I ask of the Office of the Ombudsman is simple: follow the rule of law and due process. This is a serious matter, and it should be handled with seriousness, not with haste, theatrics or shortcuts,” he said. </p><p>“If there are sworn accounts pointing to other personalities across the chain, whether in budget deliberations or in implementation, then those leads must be pursued with the same seriousness and the same urgency. Accountability cannot be selective,” he said. </p><div><br style="caret-color:rgb(0, 0, 0);color:rgb(0, 0, 0)"/></div><div><strong>CO, ESCUDERO</strong></div><div><br/></div><p>Rejecting accusations that he masterminded the corruption scheme, Romualdez asserted that the national budget “does not depend on just one person” and is the “product of a constitutional process involving the Executive, the House, and the Senate.”</p><p>With respect to how the budget was deliberated in Congress, Romualdez said he “not a part of the BiCam and the Small Committee budget deliberations.”</p><p>“Yes, I was updated on the general outcomes of the deliberations, but I had no visibility with regard to the specific details of the discussions, including the particular amendments or insertions approved during these closed door deliberations,” Romualdez said.</p><p>“However, two people were instrumental in making those budget decisions: Chiz Escudero and Zaldy Co,” he added.</p><p>Escudero has said allegations linking him to fund misuse were a &quot;demolition job.&quot; Meanwhile, Co accused Romualdez and his cousin President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. of orchestrating budget insertions for flood control projects.</p><p>Marcos has consistently denied any connection to the scandal, noting it was he who brought the issue center state in a national address. Earlier this week, he said Co had been arrested in the Czech Republic. </p><div><br/></div><div><strong>&#x27;ZERO GHOST PROJECT&#x27; </strong></div><div><br/></div><p>Romualdez said there were “emerging indications that certain sectors are attempting to weaponize individuals, including Zaldy Co, to construct a narrative that serves their own interests.”</p><p>“So, when the legal process is being used against me as a political demolition job, then, I will have no choice but to defend myself. And I will defend myself fully,” he said.</p><p>Romualdez noted that “once the budget becomes law, the work of implementing flood control projects, or any project for that matter, is solely within the purview of the Executive, including the DPWH” and “certainly not by legislators.”</p><p>He said that if corruption were to occur, it “does not happen at the level of general legislative approval alone.” It happens when projects are implemented, procurement is undertaken, monetary disbursements are actually made, and when substandard projects are passed off as legitimate, he argued.</p><p>He said he was authorizing his staff “to share and release to the public the list of all the projects in my district.”</p><p>“My district has zero ghost and zero substandard flood control projects. Zero. And that is verifiable,” Romualdez said.</p>

<p>Former House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez on Tuesday said he would “not allow myself to be turned into the scapegoat” in the flood control mess and urged the Office of the Ombudsman to “follow the rule of law and due process.”</p>

Former House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez on Tuesday said he would “not allow myself to be turned into the scapegoat” in the flood control mess and urged the Office of the Ombudsman to “follow the rule of law and due process.”

Romualdez says he won't be ‘scapegoat’ in flood control mess, tells Ombudsman to ‘follow evidence’

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Romualdez says he won't be ‘scapegoat’ in flood control mess, tells Ombudsman to ‘follow evidence’

Jamaine Punzalan,

ABS-CBN News

Published April 21, 2026 06:25 PM PHT

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Updated April 21, 2026 07:21 PM PHT

Read More:

Martin Romualdez

Ombudsman

corruption

flood control

baha

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