A wager on Martin Romualdez’s arrest

Whispers have been going around among those in the circle of power since last month – Martin Romualdez would be arrested for sure and the crucial date was Sept. 15, 2026, or earlier.

The former speaker of the House and presidential cousin, as the ombudsman said, is the purported mastermind of the unprecedented systemic loot of funds meant for flood control projects. Romualdez has vehemently denied all the charges against him.

In the weeks leading to his arrest, the buzz was so loud that some people decided to bet on it, just like the F1 or the NBA Finals.

Yes, I was told there was a wager that Romualdez would fall into the hands of authorities on or before Sept. 15. I first heard about this betting in the office of a businessman whose clients include some of the country’s billionaires.

The bet was whether he would indeed be arrested or not.

And now that he has already been served with the warrant for the non-bailable charge of plunder, those who believed that he would be arrested just got richer by a few hundreds, thousands or maybe more.

It’s interesting how fast rumors swirl in our country and how they’re more often than not true, or at least a version of the buzz is true.

Given that the well-heeled crowd knew of Romualdez’s looming arrest, it is easy to conclude that the former speaker himself was also well aware that it would happen soon.

And because he is no ordinary respondent, he must have known exactly what time the warrant would be served.

It’s no surprise that he was in the “right place” at the right time on the evening of Sept. 7.

Upsilonians all

Romualdez was served the arrest warrant at Cardinal Santos Medical Center in San Juan, by no less than his Upsilon Sigma Phi fraternity brod, Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla.

The arrest stemmed from plunder charges filed by the office of another Upsilon brod, Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla who, as The STAR reported, said this was just the first of a slew of charges to be filed in court against Romualdez involving plunder, malversation and graft related to kickbacks and the flood-control mess.

Romualdez went to the hospital around 4 p.m. that day. A medical certificate submitted by his camp to the anti-graft court said he was diagnosed with “hypertensive atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, unstable angina, coronary artery disease, S/P PCI (post percutaneous coronary intervention), cerebrovascular ischemic disease, type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypertension, dyslipidemia, and primary hyperthyroidism,” The STAR report also said.

The Sandiganbayan said it would make its own assessment of Romualdez’s fitness for detention in a regular jail.

Also charged were former congressman Zaldy Co, Romualdez’s household staff member Joselyn Serenio and money changer owner Felicito Guevarra.

Conspiracy theories

Despite the warrant finally being served on Romualdez, conspiracy theories abound.

One reader said the arrest was “timed to tame the very negative effect of the warrant of arrest for Vice President Sara Duterte.”

The VP was issued an arrest warrant on Friday, Sept. 4, after a Quezon City court found probable cause to charge her with three counts of grave threats.

VP’s supporters, not surprisingly, went all out to support her, criticizing the Marcos administration for its continued attacks against her.

The charges stem from Duterte’s public statements in 2024 that she had hired an assassin to kill Marcos, First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and Romualdez should an alleged plot to kill her succeed.

“Actually, I think Martin can really drag all of them involved – from 2016 to 2025 – down, including BBM, at least for command responsibility. So there is still a big possibility that it is all for show just to be able to say that a big fish has been caught,” speculated a reader.

Another lawyer told me that it’s all for show and authorities will eventually find a loophole so that Romualdez and his cohorts will be cleared of the charges.

Some Upsilonians I talked to, however, said there is no drama behind the arrest and that the Remulla brothers are serious in their quest for justice, especially in relation to the flood control scandal, perhaps to vindicate the Marcos administration.

The public, of course, can’t hide its dismay that, as is usually the case with VIPs, the hospital is the default detention cell.

As for Romualdez, he previously threatened he would not go down alone.

Remember the floods

In any case, with the arrest of Romualdez, our nation’s history has entered a new chapter. He is said to be the most powerful person in Marcos’ inner circle when he was Speaker of the House and, as the ombudsman said, was the architect of the massive flood control kickback scheme.

How this chapter will be written now depends on Ombudsman Remulla.

This is his real test and perhaps the biggest challenge in his decades-long career as a politician – from Cavite provincial politics, to Congress and now as ombudsman.

He should also try to get back the money from whoever is found guilty in the flood-control mess – maletas upon maletas in kickbacks.

If he needs a reminder of how important this fight is, he just needs to look at the floods.

In fact, it’s another flooded day in the metro as I write this – murky, gutter-deep and dangerous.

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