MANILA — Leyte Representative and former House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez has formally asked the Office of the Ombudsman to inhibit from investigating him over the alleged flood control fund controversy, escalating the legal battle as his camp accuses officials of prejudging the case even before charges are filed.
In a four-page letter submitted Friday, Romualdez’s lawyers from Villaraza & Angangco argued that statements made by Ombudsman officials suggested bias and a predetermined conclusion regarding their client’s alleged liability.
“Such statements are unequivocal: the Honorable Office has already determined that our client is guilty of plunder even before any case has been filed and while it is still performing its investigatory duties,” the lawyers said.
“They unmistakably demonstrate prejudgement and, in the minds of reasonable observers, render Rep. Romualdez’s participation in the flood-control anomalies a foregone conclusion,” they added.
The legal team pointed to earlier remarks attributed to Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla regarding possible plunder charges, as well as a reported statement by Assistant Ombudsman Mico Clavano referring to Romualdez as a “master plunderer.”
Invoking Supreme Court doctrine on impartiality, the lawyers urged the Ombudsman to step aside and allow “an independent and impartial body or officer” to conduct the preliminary investigation.
Romualdez, for his part, denied any involvement in irregularities tied to flood control funds and rejected allegations that he orchestrated budget insertions.
“How can I be the mastermind? I was the former speaker of the House of Representatives. But the House of Representatives is only one part of the branch of government — the legislature,” he said.
“The national budget is not conceived, executed, implemented, bidded out, supervised, and completed by one congressman or even by Congress alone, and certainly not by the speaker of the House,” he added.
The controversy stems from an ongoing Ombudsman probe into alleged anomalies in infrastructure spending, with officials earlier indicating that plunder charges were being prepared against Romualdez and other individuals.
Meanwhile, Romualdez’s camp also dismissed reports claiming that he had fled the country following the issuance of a precautionary hold departure order.
“Romualdez is in the Philippines and has not left the country. Any report or insinuation that he has fled is false and irresponsible,” his lawyer Atty. Ade Fajardo said.
Fajardo said a previously approved medical trip to Singapore had been misrepresented as an attempt to evade authorities and stressed that legal remedies would be pursued to challenge the court order.
The Office of the Ombudsman has yet to issue a response to the request for inhibition./PN
