The Sandiganbayan has agreed to bring the paperwork to the defendant: former House Speaker Martin Romualdez will sign his pre-trial order at the New Quezon City Jail in Payatas on Monday, October 12 — the same day he was ordered to appear for the first day of his bail hearing on a ₱7.4-billion plunder charge.
According to GMA News (reports by JP Soriano and KG), the Sandiganbayan Third Division granted Romualdez's motion to sign the order at the jail rather than in court. A pre-trial order is issued after the conference at which both sides' evidence is marked and read, and it fixes what the trial will be about. Romualdez, who is also the incumbent Leyte 1st District representative, is detained at the Payatas facility.
What the defense is arguing
The bail petition, filed September 28, is where the real contest lies. As summarized by GMA News, Romualdez's lawyers argue that the Ombudsman's evidence "only raises suspicion, not certainty," and so does not justify keeping him detained. Specifically, the petition says:
- Former DPWH Undersecretary Roberto Bernardo and former Bulacan First District Engineer Henry Alcantara describe dealings with co-accused Elizaldy "Zaldy" Co, not with Romualdez.
- Eight security aides of Co described transporting luggage, but three of them have since recanted, and the petition says none established the source or amount of any cash or that Romualdez received it.
- Romualdez cannot be implicated merely because he was Speaker or because he passed appropriations bills in the ordinary course of legislation.
- The financial and corporate transactions of co-accused Jose Paras and his companies are insufficient, and the prosecution has not shown Romualdez's knowledge, direction or benefit. The petition says "none of them strongly establishes accused Romualdez's knowing participation," in GMA's partial quotation.
The petition asks the court to set a reasonable bail amount and the sureties required. GMA's report carries no statement from prosecutors beyond the filed charges; Pulpulitiko could not find a published Ombudsman response to the petition.
The timeline so far
Per GMA News, the Ombudsman filed the ₱7.4-billion plunder charge against Romualdez and three others on September 7, alleging a kickback scheme involving flood control projects. Romualdez was arrested and booked on the same day he was confined at Cardinal Santos Medical Center in San Juan. On September 14 he was brought to the Payatas jail. On September 16 he pleaded not guilty by videoconference. Co-accused named in the report are Co, Bernardo, Alcantara and Paras.
What is still unknown
It is not yet clear how the court will weigh the three recantations against the remaining aides' accounts, or whether prosecutors will present additional witnesses at the bail hearing. Plunder is ordinarily non-bailable when evidence of guilt is strong, so the hearing is effectively a preview of the prosecution's case. The defense's argument that a Speaker cannot be tied to a scheme through the budget alone is a legal position, not a finding; whether the evidence goes beyond appropriations is precisely what the hearing is for.
Analysis: The accommodation — a signing session at the jail on the day of a bail hearing — is procedurally unremarkable and, so far as the reports show, was not opposed. What it does illustrate is how much of this case is being fought on paper before any witness has been cross-examined: three recantations, a defense that the paper trail leads to Co and not to its client, and a prosecution that has so far said little in public about the petition.
Context
The case stems from the flood-control kickback scandal. Pulpulitiko earlier reported that the Ombudsman named Romualdez a "central figure" when it filed plunder and money-laundering complaints in July, backed by sworn statements from eight of Co's former security personnel, and that his lawyer, Atty. Jose Roy III, has argued the scheme ran "on a per-project basis." Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla has said 35 flood-control cases are now in the courts, with 166 more under investigation.
Sources
- GMA News, "Sandiganbayan allows Romualdez to sign pre-trial order at QC Payatas Jail on Oct. 12" — gmanetwork.com
- Pulpulitiko, "Ombudsman Names Ex-Speaker Romualdez 'Central Figure' in Flood-Control Plunder Scheme" — pulpulitiko.com (July 2026)
- Pulpulitiko, "Ombudsman: 35 Flood-Control Corruption Cases Now in Courts, 166 More Under Investigation" — pulpulitiko.com (September 2026)