Manila Bulletin
Philippines
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Ombudsman building 'grandest case' vs Martin Romualdez over alleged budget conspiracy—Remulla
Philippines
National
Ombudsman building 'grandest case' vs Martin Romualdez over alleged budget conspiracy—Remulla
Ombudsman building 'grandest case' vs Martin Romualdez over alleged budget conspiracy—Remulla
By Jel Santos
Published May 26, 2026 05:16 pm
(Photo: Martin Romualdez Facebook page)
Ombudsman Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla on Tuesday, May 26, said the Office of the Ombudsman (OMB) is preparing what he described as the “grandest case of them all” against former House Speaker Martin Romualdez in connection with an alleged conspiracy involving the national budget.
During a press briefing in Quezon City, Remulla disclosed that the OMB was preparing multiple cases related to Romualdez, including an alleged money laundering case and a broader alleged conspiracy to defraud the National Treasury through the budget process.
“Nandiyan na ’yan. Mayroon na kaming dalawa pang kasong hinahanda tungkol diyan. Mayroon kaming isa pang money laundering case (That is already there. We already have two more cases being prepared regarding that. We also have another money laundering case),” Remulla said.
“Mabigat, but of course, the grandest case of them all, itong pinakamabigat na kaso dyan ’yung conspiracy to defraud the Treasury sa pamamagitan ng budget (It is serious, but of course, the grandest case of them all, the heaviest case there is the conspiracy to defraud the Treasury through the budget),” he stressed.
Per Remulla, the case was difficult to build because it would supposedly be the first of its kind in Philippine history.
“Hindi madali ilatag ’yan. We’re being very careful about every premise that we make kasi first time ito gagawin sa kasaysayan ng Pilipinas na magkakaroon tayo ng ganitong klaseng kaso (It is not easy to lay that out. We are being very careful about every premise that we make because this is the first time in Philippine history that we will have this kind of case),” he said.
The Ombudsman said there was currently no timetable for the filing of the alleged “big case,” stressing that evidence was still being gathered daily.
“Wala kaming timetable dyan, basta ’yung big case kasi, hindi mo pwede lagyan ng timetable. Ang ebidensya dyan binubuo namin sa araw-araw (We do not have a timetable for that because you cannot place a timetable on a big case. We are building the evidence every day),” said Remulla.
“We’re here every day, we go to work every day, and it’s bearing fruit. Marami kaming nakukuhang ebidensya (We’re here every day, we go to work every day, and it’s bearing fruit. We are getting a lot of evidence),” he added.
Moreover, Remulla said the OMB was encountering difficulties obtaining records from the House of Representatives.
“Actually, ’yung mga hard stands ng House, sa Romualdez cases ’yan kasi pinapa-subpeona namin ’yung records ng small committee at Committee on Appropriations, at ayaw nila ibigay (Actually, the hard stands of the House are because of the Romualdez cases since we are subpoenaing the records of the small committee and the Committee on Appropriations, and they do not want to give them),” he said.
“Kaya hindi madali ’yung aming gawain dito, pero hindi namin inaatrasan kahit sino pa. Wala kaming aatrasan (That is why our work here is not easy, but we are not backing down from anyone. We will not back down),” he added.
The Ombudsman further alleged that the House committee secretariat had refused to cooperate with their investigation.
“The people have to know there is a refusal on the part of the committee secretariat of the Committee of Appropriations of the House of Representatives, and to answer the questions that we are pursuing,” Remulla said.
“And of course they are not obeying our subpeona as we have sent it to them. They refuse to serve the subpeona (And of course they are not obeying our subpoena as we have sent it to them. They refuse to serve the subpoena),” he added.
With this, Remulla warned that the OMB could issue preventive suspensions if necessary.
“We can always issue preventive suspensions if we have to,” he said.
Likewise, Remulla said the alleged conspiracy case remained under development and that technical legal classifications would be determined later.
“Layman’s explanation pa lang ang ginagawa ko. Wala pa tayong technical. The technical things about what specific provision and terms that we will use to label the crime will come later (What I am giving now is only a layman’s explanation. We are not yet at the technical stage. The technical matters about the specific provisions and terms we will use to label the crime will come later),” he said.