On cousins Martin Romualdez & Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.

The arrest of former speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez inside the Cardinal Santos Hospital in San Juan city last week was, of course, the result of his own cousin's SONA exposing, among others, the alleged flood-control anomalies and many allied charges. That was a landmark event in the country’s history of the administration of justice.

Never before in Philippine history has a former speaker of the House been charged and arrested upon the clearance of the president who happens to be his first-degree cousin. It has not been an easy move on the part of president BBM who is not known to be a violent or vengeful man but a compassionate and kind-hearted person.

Not many expected that Romualdez would be charged with plunder, which is a non-bailable offense, aside from direct and indirect bribery and money laundering. That means that after his medical issues are properly addressed, he will be brought to the Quezon City detention center in Payatas to join the others, Senators Jinggoy Estrada and Rodante Marcoleta,

The arrest of Romualdez and his co-accused was based on the allegations that the former speaker allegedly received kickbacks and commissions on at least 15 occasions between 2022 and 2025. Prosecutors state he imposed a ?2 billion monthly quota on collections. The money was allegedly laundered through shell companies like Golden Pheasant Holdings, Bravos Holdings, and Valiant Consolidated Resource

Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, born on November 14, 1963, is the third child of Madam Imelda Marcos' favorite brother Benjamin Kokoy Romualdez, former governor of Leyte and ambassador to the U.S. He is a graduate of UP Law, and Cornell and Harvard universities. He became a lawyer in 1993. He is married to Yedda Marie Mendoza Kittilstvedt who is also an incumbent member of Congress along with his son. Another son is a councilor of Tacloban. He was speaker from 2022 to 2025.

Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr, or BBM, born on September 13, 1957, is the only son of the late Ferdinand Edralin Marcos Sr. and Madam Imelda. Since he has no brother, BBM is close to his male cousins including Ferdinand Martin. Incidentally, the former speaker's father, Kokoy, named him Ferdinand Martin in honor of Ferdinand Marcos who helped Kokoy become Leyte governor and U.S. ambassador.

It pains BBM too much to have to allow the charges to be filed against his own esteemed first cousin, and it pains Martin even much more to be "betrayed" by his close relative. But it appears that the evidence calls for the charges to be filed. No one is above the law. There should be no selective justice. Let justice be done though the heavens may fall, so to say.

If Kokoy were alive today, and if Madam Imelda were in her prime at these times, the two would have raised hell to prevent all this by all means. I have my own thesis also, that all this was also planned and cleared by the first lady who is a brilliant lawyer herself and a Law professor at that. The first lady is just trying to protect the administration of President BBM.

Charging Martin is biting the bullet and crossing the Rubicon. There shall be no turning back. The link between the Marcoses and the Romualdez clan will never be the same again. What matters most is that such a draconian move is definitely good for the Filipino people.