How Martin Romualdez avoided jail by going to hospital

• Former speaker Martin Romualdez faces a non-bailable plunder case for allegedly receiving P7.44 billion in kickbacks from government projects, with charges filed by the Office of the Ombudsman.
• Despite the issuance of a warrant for his arrest, Romualdez was hospitalized prior to his arrest, which delayed his commitment to detention, raising questions about the timing of his hospitalization.

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Former speaker Martin Romualdez, the cousin of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., is facing a non-bailable plunder case courtesy of the Office of the Ombudsman.

The Ombudsman charged the Leyte representative on Monday, September 7, after months of investigation. It alleged that he got P7.44 billion in kickbacks from the national budget courtesy of flood control and other government projects.

Since plunder is non-bailable, the expectation was that Romualdez would immediately be arrested (he has a pending precautionary hold departure order) and brought to jail.

But this did not happen.

As of September 9, Romualdez remains confined in a hospital in San Juan City.

Hospitalization before arrest

So here’s what happened.

Before Monday, there was buzz going around that there could be a major movement related to the flood control case. A quick thought was that the Office of the Ombudsman would finally charge the former speaker since it had been months since it launched its probe.

In fact, from months ago, the Sandiganbayan already issued a travel ban (precautionary hold departure order) against him, and the Court of Appeals had frozen some of the assets linked to him.

By past lunchtime on Monday, Ombudsman Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla announced the filing of plunder against Romualdez whom they alleged to have gotten P7.44 billion in kickbacks from the national budget.

At around 1:30 pm, the case was raffled to the 3rd Division, the same chamber that handles the flood control case of former senator Bong Revilla and the plunder case of Senator Rodante Marcoleta.

In the recent high-profile flood control cases, the warrant was issued either a day or days after the filing of the case with the Sandiganbayan. But at around 5:20 pm, multiple sources had already confirmed to Rappler that the 3rd Division found probable cause to issue a warrant against Romualdez.

Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) chief Juanito Victor “Jonvic” Remulla told Rappler earlier that day that they were ready to arrest the former speaker.

So if the warrant was there and the DILG was willing to arrest, why is Romualdez not in jail?

It’s simple. The former speaker went to the hospital even before the police could get to him. The warrant was out by 5 pm, but Romualdez had already been confined at Cardinal Santos Medical Center by 4 pm that day, said Remulla.

“Ayun ang mahirap dito eh. Wala kaming karapatan na i-intercept sila bago lumabas ‘yung warrant of arrest. So, telegraphed lagi kasi na-file na, alam nilang na-raffle na, so inunahan nila,” said the DILG chief. (That’s the hard part here. We don’t have the right to intercept them before the issuance of a warrant. So the movements are telegraphed because they know the case has been filed, has been raffled, so they plan ahead.)

At 6:30 pm, the Romualdez camp filed a manifestation of hospital confinement and urgent motion ad cautelam (as a precautionary measure) for continued hospital confinement under custody. In the said motion, Romualdez claimed to have the following diseases:

• Hypertensive Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease
• Unstable Angina
• Coronary Artery Disease
• Post percutaneous coronary intervention
• Cerebrovascular Ischemic Disease
• Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus
• Hypertension
• Dyslipidemia
• Primary Hypothyroidism

Before 8 pm, Remulla announced outside the hospital that Romualdez had been arrested. The Philippine National Police (PNP) implemented the warrant, read his rights, and took his mugshot while he was in bed.

After the arrest and booking procedures, an accused is usually transferred to the court for the return of warrant and the commitment order, the document that states where the accused will be detained.

“Will wait for the hospital clearance,” Remulla told Rappler when asked if they would wait for a clearance from the hospital before moving the former speaker.

“The aforementioned doctors further informed [the Sandiganbayan officials] that the movement or transport of accused may pose a risk to him, considering his medical condition,” said the 3rd Division’s September 8 order.

In other words, in the window between the filing of the case and the issuance of the warrant, Romualdez was already in the hospital. And this delayed his commitment to the detention center he was supposed to be in.

“Well, I don’t believe in coincidences. So, take it at that,” DILG chief Remulla said in a September 8 press conference, when asked if Romualdez deliberately went to the hospital before his arrest.

Unusual

In charging Romualdez, the Ombudsman called him the alleged “central figure” in the flood control scandal, saying that he used his “institutional influence” as the then-House speaker.

Asked if Romualdez is considered the “big fish” in the alleged corruption, Ombudsman Revilla replied, “Sa ngayon, sa ngayon (For now).”

But what makes Romualdez’s case a bizarre one is not only his alleged role in the scheme, but also how he handled his arrest.

The high-ranking politicians recently arrested for corruption cases either surrendered or immediately faced the Sandiganbayan. But the former speaker took his time. He stalled the process by staying at the hospital.

Former senator Bong Revilla surrendered to Camp Crame in January, after the Sandiganbayan issued a warrant for his flood control case. He is facing graft and malversation cases over a P92.8-million flood control project in Bulacan.

By January 21 or two days after his surrender, Revilla was detained at the New Quezon City Jail in Payatas.

Senator Jinggoy Estrada, who’s facing plunder and graft cases due to flood control projects, also immediately headed to authorities. He went to the Sandiganbayan to surrender and post bail for his graft case on May 29, the same day the court issued a warrant against him.

The following Monday, on June 1, Estrada was arrested in the Senate over his plunder case and was detained in Payatas the same day.

Even officials who cited medical conditions while facing cases — like Senator Rodante Marcoleta and former Department of Public Works and Highways secretary Manuel Bonoan — surrendered to authorities after the issuance of their warrant.

“In this case, actually dito lang kay [former] speaker Martin nangyari ‘yan. Kay former secretary Bonoan, dito (Camp Crame) nakita ang kanyang kondisyon. Hindi siya dumiretso sa hospital. Kay Senator Marcoleta, ganoon rin. Dito nakita ang kondisyon niya, hindi sa hospital. Si [former] speaker lang ang dumiretso talaga sa hospital,” said DILG chief Remulla.

(This only happened in former speaker Martin’s case. Former secretary Bonoan’s condition was discovered in Camp Crame. He did not go directly to the hospital. That’s the same case for Senator Marcoleta. We discovered his condition here, not in the hospital. It’s only the former speaker who went directly to the hospital.)

Hospital request in limbo

For now, Romualdez will remain in Cardinal Santos Medical Center until the court resolves his motion for hospital confinement.

In an order dated September 8, the 3rd Division set a hearing for Thursday, September 10, to tackle Romualdez’s request. If ever, this is also the first time that the former speaker will have his day in court for his flood control case.

“Accused Romualdez is directed to appear before the court should his condition permit,” said the order signed by the 3rd Division justices.

The chamber also subpoenaed Romualdez’s doctors for the hearing. The Ombudsman was given two days to comment on the former speaker’s motion.

Meanwhile, DILG chief Remulla said they do not approve of Romualdez’s confinement in a private hospital and seeks to move him to the PNP General Hospital. This was what happened in the case of Bonoan. The latter was put under hospital arrest, but inside Crame.

The Ombudsman believes that Romualdez should be held in jail if his medical condition does not really require hospitalization.

“The prosecutors will strongly oppose the motion. In fact, the prosecutors will ask that not just one doctor, but a team of government doctors assess whether or not the illnesses declared need confinement or can be managed outside of the hospital,” Assistant Ombudsman Mico Clavano told reporters on Wednesday, September 10.

“If his illnesses can be managed from outside of the hospital, the prosecutors will move that he be immediately transferred to the regular detention facility as all other accused in non-bailable cases,” he added. – Rappler.com