MANILA — The Office of the Ombudsman says it is preparing to file plunder charges against former House Speaker Martin Romualdez and former Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero over an alleged multi-billion peso flood control scandal.

Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla said on Monday that the cases are expected to be filed within May, once preparations are complete.

“We have been seriously preparing a case of plunder against former speaker Martin Romualdez and former Senate President Chiz Escudero,” Remulla said. “Within the month of May, we’re just tying up many things that have to be there for us to make a case out of it.”

Ghost Projects, Budget Maneuvers, and Conspiracy Toward Plunder

The allegations relate to flood control projects funded under the 2024 and 2025 national budgets, which investigators say may include “ghost projects” — works that were either not implemented or were substandard.

Remulla said the investigation is examining how the budgets were approved and implemented.

“It’s actually the way that the budget was passed upon by the two houses, and how many things happened to have been implemented because of that,” he explained.

The Ombudsman indicated that the inquiry may extend beyond the current timeframe and could include actions taken during the tenure of former House Speaker Lord Allan Velasco, who served from 2020 to 2022.

Authorities said they have reviewed testimonies from previous Senate hearings as part of the evidence-gathering process. A former undersecretary of the Department of Public Works and Highways, Roberto Bernardo, has been named as a state witness and has alleged irregularities in flood control projects.

“Actually you’ve already heard of the story, you heard it from the testimonies before in the Senate, and if you think about it, there was a conspiracy towards plunder. I think even you can put it together, it doesn’t take a genius to do it,” Remulla told reporters.

The Ombudsman said the planned cases could involve multiple individuals, including officials from the Department of Budget and Management, as well as private contractors.

Denials and Defense

Both Romualdez and Escudero have previously denied any involvement in anomalous flood control projects.

A 576-page minority report in the Senate, signed by six members, previously suggested that Romualdez was either “complicit with the crooks or was grossly negligent in his job” during the alleged irregularities.

Romualdez has denied any wrongdoing. His lawyer, Ade Fajardo, said they respect the Ombudsman’s process but emphasized that there is no evidence linking him to anomalies involving ghost or substandard projects.

Escudero has also denied involvement in the alleged anomalies, despite being named in testimony related to the case.

High Stakes

Under Philippine law, plunder — defined as the accumulation of ill-gotten wealth amounting to at least ₱50 million through a series of overt or criminal acts — carries a penalty of life imprisonment.

If filed, the case would mark a dramatic escalation in the government’s campaign against corruption in infrastructure spending, particularly in sectors long plagued by allegations of kickbacks and ghost projects.

📷 Congressman Martin Romualdez and Senator Chiz Escudero FB