Romualdez to ombudsman: Junk complaints

MANILA, Philippines — Leyte 1st district Rep. and former speaker Martin Romualdez said the plunder, graft and other criminal complaints over his alleged links to the multibillion-peso flood control scandal should be dismissed following the recantation of Zaldy Co’s former security aide Orly Guteza.

In a 25-page supplemental affidavit obtained by The STAR, Romualdez argued before the special panel of investigators of the Office of the
Ombudsman that there can be no prima facie evidence with reasonable certainty of conviction against him since the core of the allegations has since been taken back.

Guteza had testified before the Senate Blue Ribbon committee that he delivered suitcases filled with cash, supposedly kickbacks from flood control projects, to the residences of Romualdez and Co.

He has since recanted such allegations, saying he was pressured to implicate Romualdez upon the instructions of Sen. Rodante Marcoleta and former congressman Mike Defensor.

With this new development, Romualdez said the ombudsman’s special panel of investigators can no longer rely on Guteza’s initial account that implicated him.

“Guteza was supposed to supply the factual bridge between the alleged accumulation of funds attributed to Zaldy Co and their supposed delivery to me. He now states that this bridge was engineered and constructed for him – that the accusation was not drawn from his own personal knowledge, but was allegedly supplied, prepared, revised and presented to him for adoption,” Romualdez said.

He said that while the Office of the Ombudsman does not need to accept Guteza’s present account, it cannot continue to use the latter’s “earlier, already compromised version” to support a reasonable certainty of conviction.

Once the supposed delivery link is removed, Romualdez said the same evidentiary gap remains that no contractor had alleged that he paid him, no Department of Public Works and Highways official had stated that he received a kickback, no records of supposed unlawful proceeds were traced to his assets and no competent witness has established his supposed receipt of the alleged cash.

Aside from Guteza, Romualdez also attached affidavits of 25 individuals who are former and incumbent employees of Co who have disputed the allegations that he has been a recipient of kickback money in suitcases.

At least three of the 25 also said in their affidavit that Levi Baligod, the counsel for the original 18 ex-bodyguards who are the accusers of Romualdez and Co, offered them money in exchange for joining a group they dubbed as “18 Marines.”

Heavier penalties

To curb what he described as the “lucrative business” of fabricated testimonies, Sen. Panfilo Lacson is seeking to impose heavier penalties against individuals who induce or force witnesses to commit perjury.

Lacson’s legislative push follows the recent recantations of Guteza and three of the so-called “maleta boys,” who previously claimed to have delivered suitcases of cash to certain political personalities.

“I will file a bill imposing heavier penalty and fine for ‘subornation of perjury’ or, if a person induces or forces another to commit perjury,” Lacson posted on X yesterday.

The senator emphasized that the recent retractions should not simply be dismissed or treated as the end of the issue, noting that existing laws already hold the orchestrators of perjury accountable.

“Orly Guteza’s recantation should not end there. Republic Act No. 11594 which we passed in October 2021 has increased the penalty for perjury to ‘prision mayor’. Further, a person who induces another to commit perjury is also liable for being a principal by inducement,” he explained.

Lacson pointed out that the individuals maligned by false testimonies, as well as law enforcement officials, have the standing to press criminal charges against the instigators. — Neil Jayson Servallos