No bail petition ‘yet’ for Romualdez

The Sandiganbayan Third Division confirmed Thursday that the camp of former House Speaker Martin Romualdez has not yet submitted a petition for bail for his pending case of plunder.

The lack of such a petition was confirmed to the DAILY TRIBUNE through a viber message by the court’s clerk Atty. Dennis Pulma.

Romualdez is currently detained at the New Quezon City Jail - Male Dormitory for his alleged involvement in a kickback scheme linked to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

With the help of former congressman Zaldy Co and DPWH officials, the former Speaker allegedly amassed ₱7.4 billion in ill-gotten wealth, sourced from public funds that were allocated for infrastructure projects.

Despite the non-bailable nature of plunder, an accused is given the right to file a petition for bail if their belief was that the evidence against them was not strong.

The pleading forces the court to conduct a bail hearing, wherein the prosecution is tasked with presenting evidence to prove that the quantum of evidence of guilt is strong.

If the court such as the Sandiganbayan rules in favor of granting the petition, an accused would be granted provisional liberty.

Such a development took place in the pending case of malversation of former senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla, where he managed to file a ₱1 million bail for the case after a 2-1 decision from the Third Division on his petition.

On Friday, 25 September, the case against Romualdez is set to undergo a pre-trial hearing where he was once again granted the ability to participate in the hearing through a videoconferencing.