The Office of the Ombudsman has seemingly singled out former speaker Martin Romualdez in its ongoing investigation into the multibillion-peso flood control scandal despite allegations implicating other public officials, a lawyer said.

Atty. Ade Fajardo, Romualdez’s lawyer and spokesperson, questioned what he described as the Ombudsman’s fixation on pursuing a case against the Leyte lawmaker, saying that recent developments showed that investigators did not have sufficient evidence to link him to the alleged corruption scheme.

“We cannot understand why they are giving so much attention to singling out Representative Romualdez when there is no credible evidence,” Fajardo said.

He also raised concerns over what he described as the apparent absolution of the other public officials implicated in the controversy.

Fajardo pointed to the recantation by self-proclaimed bodyguards of former Congressman Zaldy Co, some of whom had been cited by the Ombudsman in its preliminary investigation against Romualdez.

“All the high-ranking officials of the government were seemingly absolved when the “maleta boys” recanted and there were many individuals who said that there were no cash deliveries, but it seems the Ombudsman is choosing to single out our client,” he said.

Fajardo said the anti-graft body could not simply disregard the recantations of the “maleta boys” and Orly Guteza, another witness, noting that they had submitted formal affidavits withdrawing their earlier statements.

Five of Co’s alleged bodyguards have publicly recanted their statements. Romualdez’s supplemental counter-affidavit included testimonies from 25 of their colleagues, all of whom denied that cash-filled luggage deliveries took place.

Despite these testimonies, Fajardo said the Ombudsman remained “bent” on implicating Romualdez as the “mastermind” of the scandal.