DAVAO CITY, Philippines — Anticorruption groups welcomed the plunder case and arrest warrants against former Speaker Martin Romualdez and ex-Rep. Zaldy Co, urging a broader investigation into possible enablers of corruption in infrastructure projects.
The Office of the Ombudsman filed a P7.4-billion plunder case against Romualdez, Co, Romualdez’s personal assistant Joselyn Tragua Serenio, and Samchan Foreign Exchange Corporation president Felicito Cristobal Guevarra over alleged kickbacks from contractors and other entities with interests in government projects funded under the 2022 to 2025 national budgets.
The Sandiganbayan Third Division later issued arrest warrants against the four accused. The court said issuing the warrants meant it found probable cause based on its evaluation of the records, but that this did not establish the accused’s guilt.
‘Dili nato dapat tugutan’
Rauf Sissay, a member of the secretariat of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan Southern Mindanao (Bayan SMR), called the arrest warrants against Romualdez and Co a welcome development in efforts to address alleged infrastructure corruption.
However, Sissay said the investigation should also examine the roles of high-ranking officials who are possibly colluding with the corruption.
“But we should not allow accountability to stop with Romualdez and Zaldy Co. Marcos Jr., who approved the national budget, must also be held to account,” speaking in the vernacular, Sisay told Davao Today.
Sissay added that current and former officials in the Marcos Jr. administration should likewise face scrutiny over alleged roles in budget insertions and, in his words, a failure to respond to issues affecting the public.
“There is no genuine accountability if the brains of the corruption, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., is not made to answer and punished.”
To push for accountability, Sissay urged the public to join mass actions, particularly on Sept. 21, which marks the declaration of martial law through Proclamation No. 1081 in 1972. The late President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. placed the country under martial law, a period marked by massive human rights violations, disappearance, tortures, and killings as dissent raged on.
‘No one is above the law’
Elmer John Mupas, a convener of Stand in Opposition to Plunder (STOP) Corruption Alliance, also welcomed the plunder charges and arrest warrants, although he described the development as “long overdue.”
“No one is above the law, and everyone implicated in the flood control scandal must be made to answer,” Mupas told Davao Today.
He raised concerns, however, over how powerful figures are treated compared with ordinary Filipinos.
Romualdez was served his warrant while confined at Cardinal Santos Medical Center in San Juan after reportedly suffering a cardiovascular event, unstable blood pressure, and an anxiety attack.
Mupas said legitimate medical needs should be respected, but such accommodations must not become privileges available only to the powerful.
He compared Romualdez’s case to those of Vice President Sara Duterte and public school teacher Ronnel Mas.
Duterte went to court after an arrest warrant was issued against her in connection with a grave threats case and immediately posted bail.
Mas, however, was arrested without a warrant in 2020 over a social media post offering a P50-million reward for the killing of former President Rodrigo Duterte. He was brought from Zambales to Manila and detained before posting bail. A court later ruled that his arrest was illegal and dismissed the case.
“These cases are legally different, but they still show how unevenly justice can be applied. The issue is not that Duterte should have been denied bail or that Romualdez should be denied proper medical care. It is whether ordinary Filipinos are given the same dignity and due process,” Mupas said.
He said the disparity is also reflected in the continued detention of political prisoners and other persons deprived of liberty, many of whom face prolonged detention and limited access to their rights.
“Due process and humane treatment should apply to everyone, not only to the powerful.”
Beyond the flood control cases
Mupas said the allegations against Romualdez and Co should be viewed within the broader issue of corruption in government rather than as an isolated case involving a few individuals.
He said scrutiny should extend to the administration’s budget process, including alleged budget insertions, unprogrammed appropriations, and confidential and intelligence funds.
If evidence establishes that Marcos or his allies tolerated, enabled, or benefited from practices, Mupas said they should face the same legal consequences.
“Filipinos deserve the whole truth and a justice system that does not bend to the powerful,” he said.
Rumaldez and Co are both accused in the same P7.4-billion plunder case, and both face Sandiganbayan arrest warrants. However, Co remains at large. (davaotoday.com)
