Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN) urged the denial of Tacloban City Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez’s bid to leave the country and possibly escape accountability from the flood control controversy.
In a statement, BAYAN said the suspiciously slow and selective corruption investigation is the reason why the former House Speaker could still attempt to leave the country instead of facing accountability.
“Even as we hold him one of those principally liable for the flood control scam, we demand that all those implicated in the massive and systemic corruption to be immediately prosecuted and arrested,” BAYAN added.
Romualdez on Tuesday denied his alleged involvement in the flood control issue as a “mastermind” of the corruption scheme. He said he was not part of the Bicameral and so-called Small Committee budget deliberations since he became Speaker in July 2022.
“Records would show that I did not participate in those meetings and I was not privy to what exactly transpired during the deliberations. However, two people were instrumental in making those budget decisions: Chiz Escudero and Zaldy Co,” he said.
The Office of the Ombudsman on Monday said it is ready to file charges against suspected masterminds in trillion-peso budget insertions that eventually found themselves into substandard and ghost flood control projects, including Romualdez and his then Senate counterpart Sen. Francis Escudero.
Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla requested a hold departure order against Romualdez, prompting the former speaker’s release of his video statement. Romualdez earlier sought permission to travel to Singapore ostensibly for medical checkup.
Romualdez in his video told Remulla: “If your office truly believes in justice, then follow the sworn statements, follow the records, and follow the evidence all the way. Do not stop where it is politically convenient.
BAYAN also said the Ombudsman should not be selective and start with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. “who drafted, signed, and implemented the budget containing anomalous allocables, insertions, and unprogrammed appropriations.” # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
