Philippine President’s lawmaker cousin arrested over flood-control scandal
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The case came more than a year after Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr put the so-called ghost infrastructure projects centre stage in a public address.
PHOTO: AFP
- A lawmaker and cousin of Philippine President Marcos Jr is arrested over a corruption scandal involving fake flood control projects costing billions of pesos.
- The country’s top anti-graft prosecutor confirmed the case involves 7.4 billion pesos (S$149.5 million) in alleged bribes and questionable budget allocations
- Martin Romualdez resigned as House Speaker in 2025 amid investigations into the flood control scandal, but he remains a member of Congress.
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MANILA – Philippine police arrested a lawmaker and cousin of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr in his hospital bed on Sept 7 over his alleged involvement in a massive corruption scandal tied to bogus flood-control projects.
The arrest came hours after prosecutors filed a “plunder” case against Martin Romualdez alleging 7.4 billion pesos (S$149.5 million) in bribes, anomalous budget insertions and project allocations.
Marcos put the so-called ghost infrastructure projects, believed to have cost Filipino taxpayers billions of US dollars, centre stage in his public address in July 2025.
“I’m here with (Police) General (Jose Melencio) Nartatez to serve the warrant of arrest to former speaker Martin Romualdez,” Interior and Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla told reporters outside Cardinal Santos Medical Center.
Romualdez was brought to the private hospital in the afternoon after suffering from “unstable blood pressure” and “anxiety attack”, Remulla said.
“After we read him his rights, he is now considered a person deprived of liberty,” he added.
Plunder is a non-bailable offence referring to large-scale corruption punishable by life imprisonment.
In a statement to reporters earlier in the day, Romualdez’s lawyer said his client would face the allegations against him through the courts.
“We respect the courts and the legal process,” lawyer Ade Fajardo said. “(Romualdez) asks only for the same due process and fair hearing guaranteed to every Filipino. Truth, evidence and a fair process must prevail.”
Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla, brother of the interior secretary, said prosecutors intended to file additional cases against Romualdez and others implicated in the flood-control scandal.
“We don’t pick and choose. There is no name here that we’re trying to avoid. Everything here is based on evidence,” Remulla told reporters. “This case proves that there are no sacred cows.”
Romualdez’s co-respondents include former lawmaker Elizaldy Co and several others accused of conspiring to unlawfully accumulate wealth through government funds.
In September 2025, Romualdez resigned as speaker of the House of Representatives after his name surfaced in the widening investigation.
At the time, he said stepping down would allow investigators to perform their work without “undue influence”. He remains a member of the House.
Over the past year, prosecutors have filed cases against a number of sitting and former lawmakers, public works officials and construction company representatives allegedly linked to the scheme.
Corruption has long been a problem in the Philippines’ brand of freewheeling democracy, and accounts for much of the massive poverty in the South-east Asian nation of 112 million people. AFP
