Alden Richards reposts Martin Romualdez’s hospital arrest, beggar man’s detention

Alden Richards drew attention online after reposting an art card that appeared to question the contrasting treatment of former House Speaker Martin Romualdez and an elderly man who was reportedly detained after begging for money to feed his grandchild.

Richards shared the art card on his Instagram Story, without adding his own written caption or commentary.

The Instagram Story has since expired, but screenshots of the repost continue to circulate among netizens on social media.

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The art card featured a photo of Romualdez lying in a hospital bed at Cardinal Santos Medical Center, where he was taken after experiencing a cardiovascular event, unstable blood pressure and an anxiety attack. Authorities served his arrest warrant at the hospital on Sept. 7 after the Sandiganbayan issued it in connection with a plunder case. 

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READ: Alden Richards highlights education crisis in new documentary: ‘Kawawa ang kabataan’

The image also showed the orange shirt used during Romualdez’s booking procedure. He faces allegations that he received billions of pesos in kickbacks linked to government projects, including flood control projects. Romualdez has maintained his innocence. 

The reposted card carried the text: “Bilyun-bilyong pera ang ninakaw. Nagka-anxiety, pinayagang manatili sa ospital.”

Beside Romualdez’s photo was a screenshot of an elderly man, identified in the card as someone who allegedly begged for money to buy food for his grandchild and was subsequently beaten and detained in Cebu.

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The juxtaposition appeared to highlight the perceived disparity in how authorities treat people depending on their social and economic circumstances.

This is not the first time Richards has used his social media platform to draw attention to issues involving alleged government corruption. 

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In September 2025, he reposted an art card explaining the term “kuracaught,” amid public outrage over alleged irregularities in government flood control projects. 

More recently, Richards tackled another national issue through the GMA documentary special “Rebuilding Broken Rooms,” which examined the country’s education crisis. 

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At the time, the actor took to his Instagram story to call for education to be made a priority and urged those in power not to neglect the needs of Filipino students.