Fallen speaker: High-flying Martin Romualdez ordered to Payatas Jail over ₱7.4B plunder scandal
MANILA: An anti-graft court on Thursday (Sept. 10, 2026) ordered the formal "commitment" of former House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez to a regular detention facility in Quezon City. This strips the high-profile politician, who is a first-cousin of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, of police custody as he faces massive multi-billion peso plunder charges. The Sandiganbayan 3rd Division issued…
Former House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, a cousin to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., has been ordered by an anti-graft court to be transferred to Payatas Jail following his arrest on charges of ₱7.4 billion plunder, graft, bribery, and money laundering. The Sandiganbayan 3rd Division transferred custody of the Leyte representative to the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) at the New Quezon City Jail-Male Dormitory in Payatas.
Romualdez, who was initially held in a private medical center, was placed in a standard detention facility after doctors cleared him for transport. He remains confined at Cardinal Santos Medical Center pending hearings on his hospital arrest.
Brief written by urgent.news from Gulf News's own syndicated text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
