What did BBM really say about Martin’s mansions?

Reports tie Martin Romualdez to four mansions in Forbes Park, Makati, one across Malacañang, Manila, one in Tacloban, one in Cebu, two in America and one in Spain.

What did Bongbong Marcos really tell first cousin Martin about those many mansions? There are two conflicting versions:

One, BBM castigated Martin for avarice that tarnished the admin in the flood control scandal. That’s according to Navotas Rep. Toby Tiangco in a One News interview on Nov. 14, 2025.

“Martin, kayo ni Zaldy [Co], ilang bahay ba ang gusto niyo sa Forbes Park? Gaano karaming eroplano, helicopter? Gaano karaming caviar kaya niyo kainin? Ilang Ferrari gusto niyo?” Tiangco quoted BBM telling Martin just days prior. Tiangco’s wife is also first cousin of BBM and Martin.

Two, BBM ordered Martin to buy the mansion on 30 Tamarind Street, Forbes Park supposedly as dropoff and storage of suitcases of cash plundered from public works. That’s according to ex-congressman Zaldy Co on Nov. 24, 2025.

“Sinabi po sa akin ni Speaker Martin na si PBBM ang nag-utos sa kaniya na bilhin ang bahay sa No. 30 Tamarind Street para gamitin bilang bagsakan at imbakan ng pera mula sa mga SOP, koleksyon at deliveries na para sa Pangulo,” Co said in his fourth video version of the P1.7-trillion flood works scam.

Investigators link Co to the scam as chairman of the House appropriations committee when Martin was speaker, July 2022-Sept. 2025. He released the videos from Europe, where he fled after US medical treatment.

Present and past investigations plus news reports link Martin as well to the 10 mansions:

• 42 McKinley Drive, Forbes Park.

Co said his aides Mark and Paul delivered payoffs on instructions of Martin’s assistant Jocelyn. The suitcases of cash came from DPWH-Bulacan district engineer Henry Alcantara. Those were first dropped off at Co’s house in Valle Verde, Pasig or Shangri-La Hotel penthouse in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig.

• 14 Narra Street, Forbes Park.

Co said this became the alternate dropoff after Martin vacated 42 McKinley. A 104-page ombudsman complaint states that Martin’s Brightnews Corp. bought this property on Jan. 26, 2023 for P1.6 billion paid through two P800-million manager’s checks from Philippine Veterans Bank. Lawyers Edgar Dennis Padernal and Jose Raulito Paras, Martin’s Upsilon Sigma Phi fraternity mate in UP Diliman, supposedly front for Martin in Brightnews.

This mansion was previously rented by Rose Nono Lin, wife of Chinese fugitive Lin Weixiong alias Allan Lim. Lin Weixiong was the partner in Offshore Gaming and the P11.5-billion Pharmally scam of Michael Yang, who lived across the street.

• 30 Tamarind Street, Forbes Park.

Co claimed that this “bagsakan at imbakan” of cash in suitcases is only a stone’s throw away from BBM’s residence. Malacañang spokesperson Claire Castro denies this. But Wikipedia lists 27 Tamarind Street, immediately diagonal to Martin’s mansion, among current and former properties of the Marcos clan. Source: Republic of the Philippines v. Bienvenido Tantoco, et al. Civil Case 0008.

• Townhouse inside Manila Polo Club, McKinley Drive, Forbes Park.

Ombudsman investigators quote eight of 18 Co bagmen as detailing payoffs of cash in paper bags from Martin to certain officials.

• Aguado Mansion across the street from Malacañang Palace.

Co’s bagman ex-Marine Sgt. Orly Guteza claimed at the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee on Sept. 25, 2025 having delivered suitcases of cash to this manor. Martin supposedly entertains partymates and legislators in this historic site.

• Villa Kabila, Sotogrande, Cadiz, Spain.

This multi-bedroom luxury residence with swimming pool is within a three-hectare hacienda. Martin reportedly bought it in January 2024 for 6.9 million euros (P472 million). Sotogrande, with Mediterranean beach and hillside view of Gibraltar, was developed by the same couple behind Forbes Park. The ombudsman complaint cites a report that Martin’s second son plays polo there.

• 262 Real St., Purok 1, Brgy. 65, Tacloban City.

This is Martin’s official residence as congressman of Leyte’s 1st district.

• House and lot in Banilad, Cebu City.

Along with a farm in Mabalacat, Pampanga, this property is listed in Martin’s Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth.

• 2.5-hectare estate in Dover, Massachusetts.

Valued at $2.44 million (P130.5 million) that Martin held since 1988 before transfer to AMMY Incorporated for $1 in July 2025.

• Estate in Greenwich, Connecticut.

Purchased for $6.9 million (P425 million) in September 2022 through a company linked to his close associate and fraternity brother, Andrew Casiño.

In his State of the Nation last Monday, BBM said the ombudsman has filed case upon case against Martin. He claimed to have exposed the flood works plundering in the same report a year earlier. (In truth, senators and investigative journalists, including this column, have been documenting fake river and lake dredging as far back as 2007.)

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