Romualdez Lawyers Seek Ombudsman Recusal in Flood Control Probe

Lawyers for Leyte 1st District Representative Martin Romualdez wrote to Ombudsman Boying Remulla on April 22, 2026, requesting that he and his office inhibit from investigating their client in the flood control corruption scandal. The letter, released to the media on April 24, 2026, cited public statements by Remulla and Assistant Ombudsman Mico Clavano as evidence of prejudgment.

Rappler reported that the lawyers argued these statements showed the office had already determined Romualdez guilty of plunder before any case was filed.

Remulla made remarks in November 2025 discussing the possibility of filing plunder cases against Romualdez, according to the lawyers' letter. Clavano called Romualdez a “master plunderer” in the week prior to April 24, 2026. The lawyers requested the Ombudsman’s office inhibit itself from conducting the preliminary investigation of any complaint against Romualdez to protect his right to due process.

They insisted that any fact-finding investigation would be a mere formality regardless of evidence. ” Rappler reported that the Ombudsman’s office asked the Sandiganbayan to issue a preventive hold departure order against Romualdez, barring him from leaving the Philippines.

Romualdez was supposed to fly to Singapore for a medical procedure after securing a travel clearance from the House of Representatives. The inhibition request came amid these developments in the ongoing probe. Romualdez has asserted his innocence in the budget fiasco, pointing fingers at former ally and now-fugitive Zaldy Co, former Senate president Chiz Escudero, and even the executive branch led by his cousin, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

“I will not allow myself to be turned into the scapegoat so that others who are actually accountable can walk away clean. If this is a political play to push me out and close the story, tarnishing my name and my reputation, then I am telling everyone now: I will not go quietly, and I will not go alone.

I will not be the fall guy for other people’s corruption,” Romualdez said on Tuesday, April 21.

In a historical parallel, in 2015, then-Makati mayor Junjun Binay sought to stop his suspension by the Ombudsman through the Court of Appeals over the overpriced Makati City carpark building. Rappler noted that efforts to question the Ombudsman's impartiality have occurred in the past, though such moves by public officials are rare.

The lawyers suggested any complaint against Romualdez should be referred to an independent and impartial body to ensure fair proceedings.