Leyte Representative and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez has "not yet" been included in the list of lawmakers who will face charges in the ongoing flood control scandal, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. said on Thursday.
“The only evidence that has been made against him is in the Senate. So I don't know. The [former] speaker, no. Not as yet. If something else comes out, then he might have to be answerable for something,” the President added during the press conference in Malacañang.
However, he stressed that the lawmaker could still be held accountable if new information and evidence arise.
This came after Marcos announced that 37 individuals are facing charges recommended by the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) to the Office of the Ombudsman.
Marcos emphasized that the cases filed are based on evidence, not public perception or optics.
“We don’t file cases for optics. We file cases to put people in jail or to make people answer," the President said.
"I know that there are many suggestions of who else we should file cases against. Well, we're fine with that. Provide us [with] the evidence and we will file cases against them,” he added.
The President’s cousin has been linked to the anomalies after contractors Sarah and Curlee Discaya alleged that the former Speaker received a 30% kickback from government infrastructure projects.
Aside from the Discayas, former Marine serviceman Orly Guteza, who previously served as a security consultant for former Ako Bicol Party-list Representative Zaldy Co, appeared at a previous Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing, where he testified that he personally handed over bags containing millions of pesos to Romualdez and Co.
Among those already named in the list of individuals facing possible charges are 37 lawmakers, Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) officials, and contractors, including Discaya.
Yesterday, Senator Imee Marcos said that Romualdez backed out as a ‘star witness’ in the Blue Ribbon Committee’s probe on Friday, November 14, into the anomalous flood control projects.
