Manuel Mogato | September 12, 2026
MANILA — The anti-graft Sandiganbayan ordered the arrested Martin Romualdez, former Speaker of the House of Representatives, to a government hospital for further tests to determine if he really needed medical care.
The Leyte congressman checked in at Cardinal Santos Hospital last week, complaining of chest pains and elevated blood pressure, hours after the Ombudsman filed plunder charges against him for 7.44 billion pesos in kickbacks in infrastructure projects.
Police later arrested him after an arrest warrant was issued and ordered him to be committed to the Quezon City jail in Payatas.
A first cousin of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Romualdez was to be discharged from the private hospital on Saturday and transferred to the Philippine General Hospital before his scheduled arraignment on September 16. (Also read: Marcos announces looming corruption cases vs former House Speaker, his first cousin)
Associate Justice Karl Miranda decided to transfer Romualdez to a public hospital on the anti-graft court’s second day of hearing for the lawmaker’s motion on extended hospital confinement.
The Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, the Philippine National Police, and the Office of the Judiciary Marshals would coordinate with the public hospital to transfer Romualdez. (Also read: Sandiganbayan orders arrest of former congressman tagged in flood control corruption)
