The Office of the Ombudsman will seek an independent government medical assessment of former House Speaker Martin Romualdez as it opposes his request to remain confined at Cardinal Santos Medical Center in San Juan City.

Assistant Ombudsman Mico Clavano said Wednesday that prosecutors would ask a team of government doctors to determine whether Romualdez’s reported illnesses required hospital confinement.

“The prosecutors will strongly oppose the motion. In fact, the prosecutors will ask that not just one doctor but a team of government doctors assess whether or not the illnesses declared need confinement or can be managed outside of the hospital,” Clavano said in a message to reporters.

The Ombudsman on Monday, 7 September, filed plunder charges against Romualdez, former congressman Zaldy Co and two other private individuals for allegedly conspiring to amass P56 billion in ill-gotten wealth from public funds between 2022 and 2025.

The case was raffled to the Sandiganbayan Third Division, which issued arrest warrants for the four accused on the same day.

Authorities served the warrant against Romualdez at Cardinal Santos Medical Center, where he had been admitted after reportedly experiencing chest pain and difficulty breathing.

A medical report submitted with Romualdez’s urgent manifestation and motion for continued hospital confinement indicated that he was admitted on 7 September.

Transfer to regular detention sought

Clavano said prosecutors would seek Romualdez’s immediate transfer to a regular detention facility if government doctors determined that his condition could be managed outside the hospital.

“If his illnesses can be managed from outside of the hospital, the prosecutors will move that he be immediately transferred to the regular detention facility as all other accused in non-bailable cases,” he said.

Defendants in recent nonbailable cases before the Sandiganbayan have been committed to the Quezon City Jail Male Dormitory in Payatas or the Quezon City Jail Female Dormitory at Camp Karingal.

Romualdez, the incumbent representative of Leyte’s first district, is the latest sitting lawmaker charged with plunder. Senators Jinggoy Estrada and Rodante Marcoleta were also arrested and detained in recent months.

In a related development, former Sen. Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. was granted bail in a malversation case involving an allegedly anomalous P92.8-million flood control project in Pandi, Bulacan.

The same Sandiganbayan division hearing Revilla’s case is also handling the cases against Estrada and Romualdez.