Former House Speaker, Leyte 1st district Rep. Martin Romualdez has raised the possibility of "pre-written" affidavits against him, as well as "recruited" witnesses, in connection with the flood control projects mess.

Romualdez is pressing the Office of the Ombudsman to answer these allegations several former security aides alleged that they were recruited into witness groups, while one said he was taken to a hotel to sign an affidavit already prepared for him despite his lack of personal knowledge.

Romualdez’s Supplemental Counter-Affidavit Ex Abundanti Ad Cautelam, filed last Aug. 20, carefully limited the allegation to some – and not all – of the 25 new affiants.

On page 6 of the filing, Romualdez stated, “Equally important, some of the 25 Security Aides likewise state under oath that Atty. Levito Baligod (‘Baligod’), the counsel of the 18 Security Aides, and certain members of the 18 Security Aides, had encouraged them to join a group called ‘18 Kargadors’, ‘Brave 18’, ‘18 Ex-Marines’, or ‘18 Marines’ in exchange for financial benefit, notwithstanding their want of personal knowledge of the matters alleged.”

He says the remaining affidavits make denials based on the affiants’ stated duties and personal experience. The filing does not claim that all 25 received an offer.

One affiant gave a more specific account. Romualdez stated, “[…] even mentioned that Atty. Baligod brought him, and others referred to as ‘Batch 2,’ to a Shangri-La Hotel sometime in March or April of 2026, for the signing of an already prepared affidavit which contained statements which he did not personally see, know, nor experience, and thus declined to sign the same.”

That allegation may help explain why the accounts changed as more affidavits appeared, Romualdez's camp reckoned.

The ad cautelam ("for caution") filing stated, “The point is thus no longer merely that the 18 Security Aides gave inconsistent accounts; the Affidavits of Denial and Non-Participation now explain why the account kept changing.”

Romualdez, who is facing a potential plunder charge from the Ombudsman over the alleged receipt of flood control project payoffs, says this "preparation process" directly affects credibility of the accusation.

“A sworn statement that is drafted beforehand by counsel for one party and merely presented to the affiant for signature, rather than one elicited from and composed on the basis of the affiant’s own account, cannot be credited with the same evidentiary weight as a statement independently made,” said the Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (Lakas-CMD) president.

One-time Senate Blue Ribbon Committee witness Orly Guteza’s recent recantation raises a parallel issue. He alleged that former congressman Mike Defensor pressured him to adopt events he had not personally seen, that Defensor’s son-in-law typed an affidavit, and that Senator Rodante Marcoleta revised parts of it.

“This directly supports my position that the narrative of the SPI’s witnesses did not arise from independent, spontaneous, and consistent recollection, but from an account that was allegedly prepared in advance and thereafter presented to others for adoption,” Romualdez said.

On page 15, the filing reproduced Guteza’s allegation that Marcoleta called him the needed link to Romualdez: “ITO NA YUNG MISSING LINK, NA HINAHANAP NATIN KASI PURO SILA ZALDY CO AT IKAW LANG MAKAKABANGIT KAY FORMER SPEAKER MARTIN NA NAGDEDELIVER NG PERA.”

(This is the missing link that we're looking for because only you and Zaldy Co can mention former Speaker Martin on the delivery of cash.)

Romualdez says these allegations have not been adjudicated, and the filing itself does not demand blind acceptance.

“Rather, it provides a specific and testable account of the origin of the very accusation against me,” he said.