Philippine Lawmaker Pleads Not Guilty in Flood Control Kickback Case

Philippine Rep. Martin Romualdez, a former speaker of the House of Representatives, pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to plunder charges alleging he received millions of dollars in kickbacks from flood control projects, his lawyer said.

Romualdez, a cousin and former ally of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., was arraigned via video conference from a jail in Quezon City, where he has been held since his arrest last week at a hospital. The anti-graft Sandiganbayan court granted his request to appear remotely from the detention facility. Plunder is a nonbailable offense.

"Congressman Romualdez's arraignment took place this morning and he entered a plea of not guilty," his lawyer Ade Fajardo said. "He is maintaining his innocence."

The charges stem from a widening scandal over nearly 10,000 flood control projects worth more than $9 billion that were supposed to have been undertaken since Marcos took office in mid-2022. Many were found to be substandard, overpriced or never built at all. Flooding and landslides from the seasonal monsoon and typhoons routinely cause significant damage and casualties in the Southeast Asian country.

Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla, whose office filed the charges, said the case against Romualdez and three co-defendants involves 7.4 billion pesos ($118 million) used in various transactions. He said the sums were so large that those involved tried to conceal them by buying several houses and even donating $1 million to Harvard University. Remulla added that more cases, including plunder and money laundering, will be filed against Romualdez and others.

Another senior figure indicted by the anti-graft court is former Rep. Zaldy Co, who previously headed the House appropriations committee and is now considered a fugitive after fleeing to Europe. An incumbent senator, a former senator, several ex-government engineers and public works officials, and wealthy construction executives have also been detained while facing trial on corruption charges.

Marcos has described the alleged scale of corruption as "horrible" and set up an independent commission, since disbanded, to investigate. The Senate Blue Ribbon committee also held a series of hearings on the flood control controversy.