The Sandiganbayan Third Division on Thursday ordered former House Speaker Martin Romualdez committed to the Quezon City Jail Male Dormitory, transferring his custody to the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology.

Despite the commitment order, Romualdez will remain confined at Cardinal Santos Medical Center in San Juan City while the anti-graft court considers his urgent motion for continued hospital confinement.

Romualdez was arrested by the Philippine National Police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group at the hospital after the court issued a warrant Monday, 7 September, over a plunder case.

PNP-CIDG National Capital Region chief John Guiagui earlier told reporters that Romualdez had been confined at the hospital even before the warrant was issued.

In their motion, Romualdez’s lawyers said the former House leader was suffering from heart-related medical conditions. Romualdez underwent angioplasty in 2024.

In an order signed by Third Division Chairperson Associate Justice Karl Miranda, the court formally committed Romualdez to the detention facility.

“We hereby commit to [Quezon City Jail - Male Dormitory] the living person of accused Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, who is charged in the aforesaid case for the crime of plunder, to be held therein as a detention prisoner,” the order read.

“The accused shall not be moved, removed, transferred and/or otherwise be released therefrom unless ordered by the court,” it added.

The court scheduled Romualdez’s arraignment and pretrial for 14 September and required him to appear under Rule 116 of the Revised Rules of Criminal Procedure.

Amid questions over whether Romualdez would immediately be transferred from the hospital to the jail, the Third Division clerk of court clarified that the order merely entailed a “change of custody.”

Guiagui, who attended the hearing on the defense’s pending motion, said BJMP personnel would replace CIDG officers guarding Romualdez at the hospital.

“The order of the Third Division is to transfer the custody, the authorities that would be designated at Cardinal Santos Medical Center from CIDG to BJMP, because as of now the hospital confinement has not yet been resolved,” he said in an ambush interview.

After the hearing, Guiagui said he would proceed to Cardinal Santos Medical Center to inform his officers of the court-ordered change.

Romualdez was charged with plunder Monday for allegedly amassing P7.4 billion from infrastructure projects from 2022 to 2025.

Also named as his alleged co-conspirators were former Rep. Zaldy Co, a member of Romualdez’s household staff and the president of a money-changing company. All three remain at large.

Romualdez and his camp have repeatedly denied the allegations, claiming he was being singled out and used as a scapegoat in the multibillion-peso flood control scandal.