Romualdez pleads not guilty in P7.4 billion plunder case

MANILA, Philippines — Leyte representative and former speaker Martin Romualdez has pleaded not guilty to plunder charges over his alleged P7.4-billion kickbacks from flood control projects.

Romualdez, in a wheelchair, entered his plea yesterday at the New Quezon City Jail after the Sandiganbayan Third Division allowed his arraignment via video conferencing.

The anti-graft court, however, denied for lack of merit his request for waiving of the reading of the formal charges against him.

It also denied his plea to be transferred to a tertiary hospital in Quezon City, emphasizing that the lawmaker is well enough to stay at the New Quezon City Jail.

Third Division chairman Associate Justice Karl Miranda cited the findings of the Philippine General Hospital, which stated that Romualdez is clinically stable and does not require further hospital confinement.

“The mere invocation of ill health is not sufficient for an accused’s continued confinement in a hospital,” Miranda said. “There are many more PDLs (persons deprived of liberty) that have worse medical conditions compared to congressman Romualdez.”

With Romualdez during his arraignment was lawyer Jose Roy III.

Since the lawmaker pleaded not guilty, the case was automatically submitted for trial. The court has set pre-marking of evidence on Sept. 18, 21, 22, 23 and 24.

Martin to seek bail

Romualdez’s camp said he would file a petition for bail.

The anti-graft court gave Romualdez 10 days to explain why he should not be preventively suspended while on trial for plunder.

Another Romualdez lawyer, Ade Fajardo, said they requested for video conferencing to avoid “contracting an emergency situation” as the lawmaker’s condition is still fragile.

He also said they had requested for a waiver of the reading of the formal charges because Romualdez – himself a lawyer – is aware of the charges against him. Moreover, Fajardo said, the reading of charges was “additional stress” to Romualdez.

“He is maintaining his innocence and we’re in pre-trial proceedings wherein we laid down the evidence, and we have to have all these marked for orderly trial proceedings,” he said.

“If the evidence is strong, the Sandiganbayan can deny the petition for bail. That’s why we are proceeding to the petition for bail so that the prosecution can finally present to the court what their evidence is,” Fajardo said.

He said they would also discuss requesting the court’s permission to allow Romualdez not to physically appear at his trial.

Romualdez, tagged as the “central figure” by the Office of the Ombudsman in the multibillion-peso flood control kickback scheme, was charged with plunder on Sept. 7.

When an arrest warrant was issued, the lawmaker was already confined at the Cardinal Santos Medical Center for cardiovascular event and a supposed panic attack.

Authorities then served the warrant and conducted booking procedures in the hospital. They released photos of Romualdez, showing him lying in a hospital bed, with a detainee shirt draped over his hospital gown.

Romualdez’s co-accused in the plunder charges are former lawmaker and fugitive Zaldy Co and private individuals Joselyn Serenio and Felicito Guevarra.

His detention at the infirmary ward of the New Quezon City Jail was not a form of special treatment, as it was made upon the recommendations of doctors of the PGH where the legislator stayed over the weekend, Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla emphasized.

“While you might think that the way he was treated was over and above – well just check the commitment orders and recommendation from PGH,” Remulla said.

Wait-and-see

But the camp of Vice President Sara Duterte said it is not yet convinced of the sincerity of the administration in holding corrupt officials accountable despite the filing of plunder case against Romualdez.

“We can’t make a judgment early because we haven’t seen the specific accusations against Martin Romualdez and the specific evidence. Isn’t it easy to file a case? They’ve already filed a lot with the VP, I hope there is no basis,” Duterte’s spokesman and lawyer Paolo Panelo said in a chance interview.

“Whether the correct basis was used to file this complaint against Martin Romualdez, if our government is really serious, let’s wait and see,” Panelo said. –  Emmanuel Tupas, Bella Cariaso