Jail warden changes tune on Martin’s personal assistant

MANILA, Philippines — After drawing flak for saying former House speaker Martin Romualdez has a personal assistant in his cell, the Quezon City jail warden yesterday clarified the aide is only “on call” and doesn’t stay with the congressman in detention.

Testifying for the second time before the Sandiganbayan Third Division, Supt. Maria Lourdes Pacion said she had wrongly reported that Romualdez had a personal assistant while in detention, claiming, “nataranta po ako kaya namali ng sagot (I got rattled and gave the wrong answer).”

She apologized to the anti-graft court.

The assistant, identified as Arvin de Guzman, was included in the official list of visitors of Romualdez, she said.

Pacion was again summoned to testify at the resumption of the Sandiganbayan hearing on allegations that Romualdez was able to sneak out of the city jail, as alleged and later withdrawn by veteran journalist Ramon Tulfo.

She maintained that in her first appearance, she “did not elaborate” on the “24/7 on call” nature of De Guzman’s task as Romualdez’s personal assistant.

Also yesterday, Third Division chairman Associate Justice Karl Miranda and Associate Justice Fritz Bryn Anthony delos Santos led an inspection of the New Quezon City Jail male dormitory in Payatas, as well as other areas in the detention facility.

According to Pacion, De Guzman only stays with Romualdez “inside the ward” during visiting hours from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Each visit is logged, she said.

Pacion said she allowed De Guzman to accompany Romualdez inside the city jail “through a request letter.” But she admitted she could not recall who exactly made the request.

She maintained that it was within her authority to allow such an arrangement and that it did not violate any rules of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, since De Guzman was only “a regular visitor,” subjected to the usual security checks.

She also said she could not describe De Guzman’s actual interaction with the former speaker “because I do not go to their cell during visiting hours.”

Jose Roy III, one of the counsels for Romualdez, confirmed his team has asked that Romualdez be accompanied by a staff while in detention “to make sure he’s OK,” citing his medical condition.

De Guzman supposedly was familiar with Romualdez’s medications and diet.

Meanwhile, at the resumption of the hearing on Romualdez’s petition for bail, public works official Peter Paul Cortez said 444 infrastructure projects worth over P27 billion – with the former speaker tagged as proponent – were “inserted” in the 2025 national budget.

Cortez, chief of the public works department programming division, said none of the projects were in the original budget of the department or in the National Expenditure Program.

Romualdez is on trial over allegations that he collected P7.4 billion worth of kickbacks from flood control projects when he was House speaker.