Witness to Sandiganbayan: Cash delivered in 4 areas for Romualdez

MANILA, Philippines — A purported bagman told the Sandiganbayan Third Division on Tuesday that he was present at or took part in suitcase deliveries allegedly containing money to four locations, including the purported residence of former House Speaker Martin Romualdez.

Witness Gil Navidad made the revelation while testifying at Romualdez’s bail hearing for plunder stemming from alleged kickbacks worth P7.44 billion delivered by former security personnel of Ako Bicol Rep. Zaldy Co.

READ: Video of alleged suitcases in Romualdez’s Forbes home shown in court

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Navidad was a former Marine who worked as security personnel for Co, who is also a co-accused in the case.

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The witness told the court that suitcases containing cash were delivered to residences on McKinley, Narra and Tamarind streets in Forbes Park, and to a compound on Aguado Street in Manila, near the Malacañang complex.

Navidad also said the delivery on McKinley Street occurred on November 21, 2023; the delivery on Narra Street, “in the middle” of June 2024; the delivery on Tamarind Street, in November 2024; and the delivery on Aguado Street, in September 2024.

“That’s the order of our team leader, so we delivered the ‘basura’ (trash) there,” Navidad said when the prosecution asked him to clarify why deliveries were made to those areas.

The witness also confirmed that the suitcases contained “basura,” which he said referred to “money.”

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He also said the team leader sometimes informed them of the “basura” deliveries through their Viber group chat.

Navidad said he never personally saw Romualdez during the deliveries to these four areas. However, he said he knew the residence on McKinley Street belonged to Romualdez.

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He explained that before working as Co’s security personnel, he had been a driver for a friend of Romualdez’s in the early 2000s.

During that time, he said he personally delivered gifts from his former boss to the McKinley Street address, labeled as being for Romualdez, “more or less 10 times.” /mcm