Senate Deputy Minority Leader Rodante Marcoleta is pressing the Senate blue ribbon committee to summon former House Speaker and Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez to its next hearing on the flood control controversy, arguing that Romualdez’s own public denial contains an implicit admission of knowledge.
Marcoleta pointed to the rhetorical question Romualdez posed in a video statement — asking how he could possibly be the mastermind — as grounds for suspicion rather than exoneration.
“‘How can I be the mastermind?’ Sabi niyang gano’n. Alam mo, sa tanong lang niya na ‘yun, parang kilala niya kung sino ang mastermind. Kaya sinasabi niya, ‘How can I be?’ Sabi niya. Ibig sabihin, alam niya,” the senator said in a Super Radyo dzBB interview.
He elaborated: “Pero ‘yung pagsasabi niya ng gano’n, hindi niya dineny ‘yung kanyang involvement. Malinaw ‘yun. Alam niya kasama siya. ‘Hindi nga lang ako ang mastermind,’ sabi niyang gano’n. At this anomaly cannot be done by only one person. E’di alam niya talaga.”
In his video statement, Romualdez flatly rejected any link to corruption tied to the 2025 national budget, asserting there is “no evidence that proves that he committed plunder, conspiracy to commit plunder, or any similar offense that the Ombudsman may be contemplating against me.”
Romualdez had already declined two invitations from the committee — skipping hearings held on November 14, 2025 and January 19, 2026. Blue Ribbon Committee chairman and Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson had noted that the former Speaker was given both opportunities to appear and contest the allegations under oath.
Lacson has indicated he intends to call Romualdez again at the next hearing, along with former Ako Bicol Rep. Zaldy Co and the former Marines who allegedly testified to delivering kickbacks to named individuals.
Marcoleta, a former chair of the blue ribbon panel himself, read Romualdez’s public posturing as a signal of willingness to speak.
“Dapat siyang ipatawag ngayon. Kung susumahin mo ‘yun, ang Blue Ribbon, ang gagawin niya, i-analyze niya, malinaw na malinaw, na sa public statement ni former Speaker Martin Romualdez, he’s ready to talk,” he said.
The senator has withheld his signature from the committee’s partial report, conditioning it on a satisfactory outcome from the inquiry. “‘Pag natukoy na natin lahat, at maganda na naging kinalabasan ng report, pipirma na ako,” he said.
The partial report currently carries six of the nine signatures needed from the 17-member panel before it can be transmitted to the Senate floor for debate and possible adoption. Senators Lacson, Erwin Tulfo, Bam Aquino, Risa Hontiveros, Kiko Pangilinan, and Senate President Vicente Sotto III have signed.
