(ABSCBN) MANILA (UPDATE) — Former House Speaker and Leyte 1st District Rep. Martin Romualdez has not left the country following the Sandiganbayan’s issuance of a precautionary hold departure order against him, his spokesperson said Thursday.
“We categorically clarify: Rep. Romualdez is in the Philippines and has not left the country. Any report or insinuation that he has fled is false and irresponsible,” Romualdez’s lawyer and spokesperson Ade Fajardo said in a statement.
Romualdez was blocked from leaving the country after the Sandiganbayan on Wednesday issued a precautionary hold departure (PHDO) order against him as he faces investigation over an alleged kickback scheme involving flood control projects.
The anti-graft court’s Seventh Division, chaired by Associate Justice Lorifel Pahimna, granted the Office of the Ombudsman’s application for a PHDO after conducting a hearing on the same day…. Read More