The Office of the Ombudsman is finalizing massive graft and plunder charges against three high-profile lawmakers—Senate Acting Majority Leader Joel Villanueva, Senator Jinggoy Estrada, and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez—in connection with multi-billion peso anomalies in government flood control projects.
Ombudsman Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla confirmed on Tuesday that his office is preparing separate plunder cases against Villanueva and Estrada for allegedly receiving kickbacks from corrupted infrastructure allocations.
“Of course, hindi lang naman Senator Jinggoy, meron pa kaming tinatapos din at sa lalong madaling panahon, mapi-file na rin namin ‘yung kay Senator Joel Villanueva,” Remulla revealed during a press briefing.
Anti-graft probers are currently conducting a meticulous final review of the evidence against Villanueva before formal submission to the Sandiganbayan.
“Baka dalawang linggo pa,” Remulla added when pressed about the specific timeline for filing Villanueva’s charges.
Meanwhile, Estrada’s plunder case is moving at an accelerated pace.
“Hopefully, Thursday, we will file it first thing in the morning by Thursday,” the Ombudsman indicated.
The anti-graft body is also setting its sights on Romualdez, the cousin of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.
Remulla disclosed that the agency is preparing two distinct cases against the former House Speaker, including a money laundering charge and an unprecedented, massive corruption case.
”Nandyan na yan. Meron kaming dalawa pang kaso na hinahanda tungkol diyan. Meron kaming isa pang money laundering case at of course, the grandest case of them all, ang pinakamabigat na kaso diyan, yung conspiracy to defraud the treasury,” Remulla stated.
The Ombudsman emphasized that the legal team is exercising extreme caution due to the historic nature of the prosecution.
”Hindi madaling ilatag iyan. We’re being very careful about every premise that we make kasi first time ito gagawin sa kasaysayan ng Pilipinas na magkakaroon tayo ng ganitong klaseng kaso,” Remulla added.
Villanueva, Estrada, and Romualdez have all vehemently denied the accusations linking them to the infrastructure scam.