ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Marcos: No corruption charges vs Romualdez for now, but 'no one exempted' in probe

Marcos: No corruption charges vs Romualdez for now, but 'no one exempted' in probe

Published Nov 13, 2025 12:11 pm  |  Updated Nov 13, 2025 03:09 pm
President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr. (Mark Balmores/Manila Bulletin)
President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr. (Mark Balmores/Manila Bulletin)
President Marcos clarified that former House Speaker Martin Romualdez is not among the 37 individuals referred to the Ombudsman for corruption charges, but stressed that “no one is immune” from accountability as the investigation expands.
In a press conference at Malacañan on Thursday, Nov. 13, the President said the list submitted by the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) includes lawmakers, former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) officials, and private contractors implicated in alleged irregular infrastructure projects.
“I don’t think so because the only evidence that has been made against him is in the Senate. So, I don’t know. With the speaker, no. Not as yet,” Marcos said when asked if Romualdez was among those facing charges.
“If something else comes out, then he might have to be answerable for something,” he added.
The President said the administration’s campaign will not stop at names already identified.
“We don’t file cases for optics. We file cases to put people in jail or to make people answer,” he added.
Marcos made clear that his administration’s corruption probe will not spare any official, regardless of rank or connection.
“Walang immune dito, walang exempted dito sa mga imbestigasyon na ito (No one is immune here; no one is exempted from these investigations),” he said.

37 lawmakers, DPWH officials, and contractors

In his presentation, Marcos said the ICI’s first batch of case referrals, transmitted to the Office of the Ombudsman on Sept. 29, involves 37 individuals, including sitting senators Joel Villanueva and Jinggoy Estrada, former House appropriations chair Zaldy Co, former Caloocan Rep. Mitch Cajayon-Uy, Commission on Audit (COA) Commissioner Mario Lipana, and former DPWH Secretary Manuel Bonoan.
Also implicated were former DPWH undersecretaries Roberto Bernardo and Maria Catalina Cabral, other DPWH officials from Bulacan and Region IV-B offices, and representatives of private contractors allegedly involved in anomalous projects.
The President said the cases include criminal charges for graft and corruption, malversation, falsification, and plunder, as well as administrative charges for violation of the Code of Conduct for Public Officers.

‘Provide us with the evidence’

President Marcos emphasized that anti-corruption efforts are guided by evidence, not politics.
“I know that there are many, 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 said.
Marcos also credited public tip-offs through Sumbong sa Pangulo for generating valuable leads in ongoing investigations.
“Kaya sinabi ko napakahalaga yung Sumbong sa Pangulo dahil marami kaming nakukuhang impormasyon diyan (That’s why I said Sumbong sa Pangulo is very important because we receive a lot of information there),” he said.
“So ipagpatuloy ninyo ang inyong pagsumbong. Lahat, bigyan niyo kami ng lahat ng ebidensya na meron kayo para magamit natin para kasuhan kahit sino (Continue sending your reports. Give us all the evidence you have so we can use it to file cases against anyone),” he added.

Related Tags

President Marcos Bongbong Marcos Martin Romualdez ICI corruption probe
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.