Sandiganbayan denies Romualdez motion to lift precautionary hold-departure order

The Sandiganbayan Seventh Division on Wednesday, June 3, 2026 denied the motion filed by former Speaker and Leyte 1st District Representative Ferdinand Martin Romualdez to lift the precautionary hold-departure order issued against him on April 22, 2026 in connection with the Office of the Ombudsman plunder, graft, money laundering, and bribery investigation, docketed as SB26PHDO0002. The court cited, on the record, circumstances suggesting a possible intent to evade arrest as the rationale for keeping the order in place. The PHDO has restricted Romualdez's exit from the Philippines since April 22, 2026 and survives the resolution of this motion; the preliminary investigation at the Ombudsman level remains pending, with the umbrella complaint alleging approximately P56 billion in kickbacks across the flood control infrastructure scheme. The ruling lands the day before the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee's June 4, 2026 hearing, to which the parent committee under Sen. Pia Cayetano has invited Romualdez along with thirty-three other named individuals. It also lands while five Bulacan flood control respondents tied to the same evidentiary track, including Sen. Jinggoy Estrada and former DPWH Secretary Manuel Bonoan, are detained on a separate plunder arrest warrant from the Sandiganbayan Fifth Division.