The Office of the Ombudsman is targeting next month to file plunder charges against former House Speaker Martin Romualdez and former Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero over alleged irregularities in flood control projects.
Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla disclosed the timeline at a press conference Monday, saying the case had been under active preparation and would involve allegations of conspiracy between the two former legislative leaders. “We have been zealously preparing a case of plunder case against former Speaker Martin Romualdez and former SP Chiz Escudero. There’s conspiracy involved,” he said.
Remulla placed the projected filing within May, and described the matter as being tied to infrastructure anomalies. “This [case] is flood control related in so many ways,” he added.
Both Romualdez and Escudero have previously denied any involvement in questionable flood control contracts.
The expected charges would mark the fourth wave of cases to emerge from a flood control investigation that the Ombudsman launched in September 2025. Prosecutors have so far filed three separate batches of charges under that probe.
The first batch targeted resigned Ako Bicol Party-list Representative Zaldy Co and at least 15 others, who face malversation and graft charges over a P289-million road dike project in Oriental Mindoro alleged to be substandard. The second batch involved contractor Sarah Discaya and co-respondents facing charges tied to a P96.5-million flood control project in Davao Occidental that prosecutors described as a ghost project. Former Senator Ramon Bong Revilla Jr., ex-DPWH Bulacan Assistant District Engineer Brice Hernandez, and five others were charged in the third batch over an alleged P92.8-million ghost flood control project in Pandi, Bulacan.
