Former House Speaker Martin Romualdez was not confined in a “presidential suite” at the University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital (UP-PGH), a director of the facility said.

Faced with the query, UP-PGH Medical Director Dr. Gerardo Legaspi told reporters that Romualdez was admitted to one of their rooms that was meant for high-ranking government officials.

Such a room was supposedly meant to ensure that there was always a vacant area where officials could be accommodated.

“The PGH does not have a presidential suite, we only have a big room…this is [standard operating procedures] of big hospitals in case leaders have emergencies, we always have a bed available,” Legaspi explained.

The UP-PGH director said that they considered several factors in admitting the former House Speaker in the said room, particularly the need for a spacious area where equipment needed for tests would fit.

During his testimony before the Sandiganbayan Third Division on Monday, Legaspi said that they had performed numerous inter-disciplinary tests to verify the findings of Cardinal Santos Medical Center on Romualdez.

He noted that they had decided to do the test in the same room that the lawmaker was staying in in order to avoid disruption in the other areas of the institution and for expediency purposes.

The big room was also meant to provide space for the security detail from the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology that was given custody of Romualdez on Thursday, 10 September.

Prior to the change, Romualdez had been admitted at Cardinal Santos Medical Center in San Juan since 7 September.

Romualdez paying for his own expenses

Among the other concerns of netizens over the weekend was the question of who would be paying for the stay of Romualdez at a public hospital like the UP-PGH, and whether the same was taken from public funds.

Legaspi, for his part, said that the standard regulations of the Commission on Audit mandated for all charges accumulated during the lawmaker’s stay at the facility was going to be paid out-of-pocket.

He did note, however, that the charges could be written off if there was an order that it received from the court or a higher authority.

“There’s no agency that will shoulder the cost unless I’m ordered by the court or by higher authority to write off the admission but I think based on government procedures we will have to charge him,” he said.

Asked about the total amount of medical bills that Romualdez would be charged, Legaspi said that they have yet to ask for a “bill out” for the lawmaker given that the order was issued on the same day of his discharge.

The Sandiganbayan Third Division ordered for the transfer of Romualdez to the New Quezon City Jail-Male Dormitory in Payatas in light of the independent medical examination conducted by UP-PGH.

The said facility was also where Senator Rodante Marcoleta and Senator Jinggoy Estrada are currently detained due to plunder charges.

Romualdez was also charged with plunder on Monday, 7 September, along with former congressman Zaldy Co and two other private individuals for amassing P7.4 billion in alleged infrastructure kickbacks from 2022 to 2025.

The camp of the former House Speaker has repeatedly denied the allegations, maintaining that they were prepared to answer the allegations through court proceedings.