A set of allegations long discussed in public hearings reached a new stage on Friday after the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) formally sent a joint referral to the Office of the Ombudsman recommending criminal charges against former House Speaker Martin Romualdez and former Ako Bicol Rep. Zaldy Co.
The document, delivered in the morning by DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon and officials of the ICI, outlines the agencies’ recommended legal action based on evidence gathered in recent months. Dizon noted in a brief press conference that their submission included suggestions for filing cases for violation of Republic Act 7080 on plunder; several provisions of Republic Act 3019, the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act; and Article 210 of the Revised Penal Code on direct bribery. “The recommended action contained in the second to the last page, Letter A — violation of Republic Act 7080 or an Act Defining and Penalizing the Crime of Plunder; Letter B — violations of Section 3A, B, and E, and H of Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act. And finally, violation of Article 210 of the Revised Penal Code on direct bribery,” he said. “These have actually already been announced by the President in his statement earlier this morning. But these we leave up to the Office of the Ombudsman for further investigation and for eventual filing.”
Included in the referral are contract records involving Sunwest Inc. and Hi-Tone Construction spanning 2016 to 2025, alongside sworn statements from retired Sgt. Orly Guteza, whose testimony before the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee linked the projects to Romualdez and Co.
Hours before the referral was filed, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. released a short video message confirming that cases tied to alleged anomalies in flood-control projects had entered the investigative phase. He said all information collected by the ICI and DPWH related to Romualdez and Co would be transmitted to the Ombudsman. “As I mentioned in my previous report, I will continue to update the public about the cases and the information we are receiving regarding flood control projects that are not in good condition,” Marcos said in Filipino. “And so now, I want to inform our countrymen that all the information gathered by the ICI and the DPWH will be referred and turned over to the Ombudsman for investigation. This concerns information about former Speaker Martin Romualdez and Zaldy Co.”
Marcos added that once the evidence is fully consolidated, the complaints may include plunder, anti-graft violations, or indirect bribery.
The developments come two days after the Ombudsman filed separate charges against Co — two counts of graft and one count of malversation — tied to alleged irregularities in a P289.4-million road dike project in Oriental Mindoro. Several former DPWH officials and a Sunwest Construction executive were also named in that complaint. The panel of prosecutors recommended that no bail be granted for the malversation charge, citing that the amount involved surpassed the P8.8-million threshold.
