The Office of the Ombudsman will strongly oppose former House Speaker Martin Romualdez’s bid to keep serving his arrest under hospital confinement, and prosecutors want a team of government doctors, not just his own, to decide whether he truly needs to stay there.
What the Ombudsman is asking
Assistant Ombudsman Mico Clavano said Wednesday that prosecutors will ask a team of government doctors to assess whether the illnesses Romualdez has declared require confinement or can be managed outside the hospital.
“If his illnesses can be managed from outside of the hospital, the prosecutors will move that he be immediately transferred to the regular detention facility as all other accused in non-bailable cases,” Clavano said.
Why his hospital stay is being challenged
Romualdez was arrested Monday at the Cardinal Santos Medical Center in San Juan City, the same day the Ombudsman filed a P7.44-billion plunder charge against him and three others over an alleged kickback scheme on flood control and other government projects funded under the 2022 to 2025 national budgets.
In a nine-page manifestation, Romualdez asked the Sandiganbayan Third Division to grant him continued hospital confinement, citing a medical history involving his cardiovascular health and brain condition.
Who could decide his fate
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Prosecutors’ position | Oppose continued hospital confinement; want government doctors to assess |
| If treatable outside hospital | Move to transfer him to a regular detention facility |
| DILG position | PNP to ask court to move him to PNP General Hospital at Camp Crame |
| Next hearing | Sandiganbayan set hearing Thursday, Sept. 10 |
| Charge | Plunder, non-bailable, at least P7.44 billion alleged |
| Co-accused | Zaldy Co (at large), Joselyn Tragua Serenio, Felicito Cristobal Guevarra |
What happens next
The anti-graft court has set a hearing on Thursday, Sept. 10 to determine whether there is still a need for Romualdez to remain under hospital arrest, and directed him to attend.
Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla separately said the PNP will move to have Romualdez transferred from Cardinal Santos to the PNP General Hospital at Camp Crame. The Ombudsman had earlier pursued related graft cases tied to the flood-control project network behind the plunder allegations.
