The United States has revoked the diplomatic and tourist visas of former House Speaker Rep. Martin Romualdez amid his alleged involvement in the flood control controversy, the Philippine ambassador to the US said, according to reports.
Ambassador Manuel “Babe” Romualdez, a first cousin of the congressman, reportedly confirmed the development on Friday, although no details were provided.
The Department of Foreign Affairs has yet to respond to queries on the validity of the report.
Representative Romualdez has been temporarily barred from leaving the country pending the investigation of corruption-related cases before the Office of the Ombudsman.
Earlier this week, the Sandiganbayan denied Romualdez’s request to lift the travel ban despite his insistence that he was not a flight risk.
The anti-graft court had flagged Romualdez as likely to evade prosecution and arrest by fleeing overseas amid the possible cases he faces, including plunder and graft.
Denial
The charges have yet to be filed in court and remain under preliminary investigation.
The former House speaker has been accused of involvement in alleged anomalies or “insertions” in the national budget for 2025, when ghost and substandard flood control projects supposedly flourished.
Romualdez has repeatedly denied the corruption allegations, asserting that although he was speaker when the previous Congress passed the 2025 budget, he was neither part of the bicameral conference committee nor the so-called “small committee” responsible for last-minute revisions to the General Appropriations Bill before it was passed by both chambers of Congress.
Earlier, he asserted that he was being made a “scapegoat” or the “fall guy for other people’s corruption,” maintaining that national expenditure proposals originated in the Executive branch and Congress’ role was strictly limited to deliberations and appropriations, not project implementation.
The 2025 General Appropriations Act (GAA) had been widely criticized for allegedly featuring bloated Unprogrammed Appropriations (UA), the so-called standby funds, with which flood control projects were reportedly financed.
Corruption conduit
Funds worth P141 billion to bankroll flood control projects in 2023 and 2024 were allegedly drawn from the UA, which has been at the center of a sweeping corruption probe involving members of Congress, Department of Public Works and Highways officials, and private contractors.
The UA, deemed by opposition lawmakers as a conduit for corruption, had allegedly swelled to unprecedented levels since 2023 — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s first full year in office — reaching nearly P2 trillion, although P168.2 billion was reportedly vetoed in the 2025 GAA.
President Marcos has also been cited as a supposed beneficiary of the corruption, along with the former speaker. Both are cousins of the ambassador to the US.
