Martin Romualdez set to seek bail in P7.4-B flood control case

ASM, Philippine Canadian Inquirer
September 28, 2026

Photo courtesy: The Seattle Times

MANILA, Philippines — Former House Speaker and Leyte 1st District Rep. Martin Romualdez is expected to seek bail before the Sandiganbayan in connection with charges stemming from an alleged P7.4-billion kickback scheme involving flood control and other government projects.

The Sandiganbayan Third Division said Romualdez’s camp had manifested its intention to file a petition for bail on Monday, September 28, with hearings scheduled to begin on October 12 and continue every Monday, Tuesday and Thursday until Nov. 12, subject to holidays and official court activities. 

Romualdez is required to personally appear during the initial bail hearing on October 12 and sign the pre-trial order, according to the court. 

The prosecution is expected to present 23 witnesses during the bail proceedings, while the defense has indicated it may call three to four witnesses. 

The bail proceedings will determine whether the evidence of guilt is strong for an offense where bail is not automatically available as a matter of right. In plunder cases, courts conduct bail hearings to assess the strength of the prosecution’s evidence. 

The Sandiganbayan recently granted former senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. bail in a separate malversation case involving an alleged P92.8-million ghost flood control project in Pandi, Bulacan. The court said prosecutors failed to establish that the evidence of his guilt was strong and set his cash bond at P1 million. 

The Office of the Ombudsman filed the P7.44-billion plunder case against Romualdez and three others on Sept. 7. Prosecutors allege that Romualdez and former Ako Bicol party-list Rep. Zaldy Co received commissions, kickbacks and other financial benefits linked to government projects funded under national budgets from 2022 to 2025. Romualdez has pleaded not guilty to the plunder charge. 

Also named in the case are Joselyn Tragua Serenio and foreign exchange executive Felicito Cristobal Guevarra. 

The trial proper involving Romualdez’s plunder, malversation and graft charges is scheduled to begin on November 23, with hearings set every Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. The prosecution has been allotted 74 trial dates to present its evidence, while the defense has 41, according to the Sandiganbayan order.

The court said the trial dates are final and that it would not entertain motions for postponement considered dilatory.