The Senate Blue Ribbon Committee has formally requested the presence of Leyte 1st District Representative and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez as it presses forward with its investigation into suspected anomalies surrounding government flood control initiatives.
Scheduled for June 4, the inquiry will be spearheaded by Senator Pia Cayetano in her new capacity as the committee’s chairperson.
Cayetano released a statement confirming that official notices had been dispatched to all relevant resource speakers and state offices required for the proceedings.
”The Senate Blue Ribbon Committee has formally issued invitations for the hearing scheduled on Thursday as part of its ongoing inquiry into flood control projects,” Cayetano said.
”We look forward to the cooperation of all invited resource persons and agencies as the Committee carries out its mandate in aid of legislation and public accountability,” she added.
Romualdez is joined on the invite list by 33 other individuals. Among them is attorney Levito Baligod, the legal counsel for 18 persons claiming to be former Philippine Marine Corps personnel.
This group previously triggered controversy by alleging that massive sums of cash, supposedly derived from flood control project kickbacks, were funneled to high-ranking government figures. The accusations named Romualdez, former Ako Bicol Party-list Representative Zaldy Co, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., and members of the First Family.
Romualdez has consistently maintained his innocence, strongly denying any connection to the alleged racket or the misappropriation of public funds.
The committee’s back-and-forth communication with Baligod’s camp briefly sparked confusion online. On June 2, Baligod uploaded an email screenshot to Facebook showing that their invitation had been rescinded on Senator Cayetano’s orders.
However, the lawyer later updated his followers that the retraction was overturned and that his group would participate in the June 4 hearing after all.
The multi-billion-peso scandal first came to light during a Senate session last year when ex-Marine Orly Guteza testified that illicit payouts from rigged infrastructure projects were being handed out to politicians.
At the time, former Blue Ribbon chairman Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson cast doubt on Guteza’s testimony, specifically pointing out that the alleged ₱805 billion cash haul would be a logistical impossibility to move physically.
As the legislative probe resumes, Baligod and his 18 clients are simultaneously battling legal pushback. The group is currently facing multiple criminal complaints at the Department of Justice, including perjury, cyber libel, unlawful utterances, and the illegal use of publication methods.