Fugitives mock pursuit of justice

Since April, Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla has been saying that his office was in the process of firming up the charges to be filed against former Speaker Martin Romualdez in connection with the flood control scam. On Friday, a special Ombudsman panel of investigators moved closer to the target.

A supplemental complaint affidavit was filed before the Ombudsman seeking cases of plunder, direct bribery, graft and corruption, and money laundering against Romualdez, former Ako Bicol party list Rep. Elizady “Zaldy” Co, and several individuals.

They were accused of “concerted and coordinated acts, performed in conspiracy with one another, of unlawfully amassing, accumulating, and acquiring ill-gotten wealth” amounting to about P56 billion from 2022 to 2025, when Romualdez was Speaker and Co was chair of the House appropriations committee.

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The 104-page complaint affidavit, filed to supplement an earlier complaint, used the testimony of Co’s alleged former security men who said they delivered suitcases filled with cash to Romualdez’s house. It also alleged that kickbacks from flood control projects were funneled to holding companies owned by lawyer Jose Raulito Paras, one of Romualdez’s close associates.

The big fish

The Ombudsman is still in the preliminary investigation stage to determine whether cases will eventually be filed against these individuals before the Sandiganbayan.

Romualdez has repeatedly said he is prepared to face the charges in court, and his lawyers denied the Ombudsman’s recent statement that he had been trying to leave the country. His commitment to face the process is the right thing to do, as the onus is heaviest on him because he is seen as the big fish in the massive corruption scheme exposed by his cousin, President Marcos, in 2025.

At the same time, prosecuting the charges of conspiracy to plunder also requires that Co be found and brought back to the country. After all, according to public works officials, he had a big role in identifying and allocating funds for flood control projects and collected the kickbacks that were supposedly delivered to high government officials.

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After going into hiding abroad since July 2025, Co claimed via Facebook videos that he delivered P25 billion to Mr. Marcos as a kickback from P100 billion he supposedly ordered inserted into the 2025 national budget. Co’s former security men, including 18 self-confessed bagmen, have made similar claims of delivering billions of cash to Romualdez and Mr. Marcos.

Powerful personalities

To find the whole truth about these allegations and bring the process to its logical conclusion, Co must come out and testify.

But the government seems nowhere near finding and extraditing the fugitive ex-lawmaker. Justice Secretary Fredderick Vida even traveled to the Czech Republic in April after Mr. Marcos announced that Co was arrested at the German border. But he came home empty-handed.

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In fact, the Sandiganbayan last month ordered that a graft case against Co over a P289-million anomalous flood control project in Oriental Mindoro be archived since he remained at large six months after the case was filed against him.

As the public grows impatient with the failure to nail the masterminds behind the theft of billions in life-saving flood control projects, the Ombudsman must ensure diligence and persistence in filing cases with “reasonable certainty of conviction.”

Equally, the government must be just as zealous in bringing Co back to the country to ensure that justice is achieved.

This is also true for other powerful personalities who have absconded to avoid prosecution for various cases. Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa has been in the wind since his surprise appearance at the Senate on May 11, following months of hiding to avoid a warrant of arrest from the International Criminal Court.

Missing ‘sabungeros’

Lawyer Harry Roque is facing a qualified human trafficking case in connection with an illegal Philippine offshore gaming operator in Pampanga, but he left the country in September 2024 when he was summoned to appear at a House hearing. The former spokesperson of ex-President Rodrigo Duterte has been seeking asylum in The Netherlands.

Gaming tycoon Charlie “Atong” Ang, wanted for kidnapping with homicide and serious illegal detention over the case of dozens of missing “sabungeros” or cockfighting enthusiasts, was reported to have left the country last week. The interior department has offered a P20-million reward for information leading to his arrest.

Finally, former Bureau of Corrections director Gerald Bantag, charged with the 2022 killing of broadcaster Percy Lapid, has remained at large since April 2024 despite a P2-million bounty on his head.

Until these high-profile fugitives are caught, the pursuit of justice and accountability will be for naught. The government should not waver in its duty to ensure that the long arm of the law will catch up with all those facing serious charges before our courts, and catch them sooner rather than later.