House speaker Martin Romualdez pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to the plunder charge filed against him over P7.4 billion in kickbacks that he allegedly received from anomalous flood control projects.
Romualdez has consistently maintained his innocence in the serious charges filed against him by the Office of the Ombudsman.
In the court of public opinion, his claim of innocence is eroded by the disappearance of key players in the accusations against him. In the latest case, his personal assistant Joselyn Serenio was reported to have left the country before the Sandiganbayan issued a warrant for her arrest.
Serenio is a co-defendant in the plunder case, accused of receiving the kickbacks allegedly delivered in cash by former bodyguards of resigned Ako Bicol congressman Zaldy Co to properties owned or occupied by Romualdez.
Several of those bodyguards, who hurled their accusations in public, have since retracted their statements. Among them is the first to make the accusation, retired Marine Orly Guteza, who disappeared for several months after testifying before the Senate Blue Ribbon committee, and then surfaced to retract his statement.
The government has yet to find Co, who chaired the House appropriations committee when Romualdez was the speaker. Officials said Co is reportedly in France where he is seeking political asylum.
Romualdez has sought to distance himself from Co and the budget deliberations in the powerful appropriations panel. But Co, in video messages, alleged that Romualdez, claiming to be acting at the behest of his cousin President Marcos, had told the Ako Bicol stalwart to leave the country and stay out.
Last April, Co managed to elude being taken into custody from Czech immigration by Philippine authorities led by Justice Secretary Fredderick Vida.
The Sandiganbayan issued on Sept. 7 a hold-departure order covering Romualdez and his co-accused including Serenio and Felicito Cristobal Guevarra, president of Samchan Foreign Exchange Corp.
Guevarra has no record so far of having left the country, according to immigration authorities.
Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla is preparing for a trip to France ostensibly to get custody of Co, saying this was ordered by the President. Whether Co will tell the whole truth remains to be seen.