Sandiganbayan judge rebukes QC jail warden over changing testimony on Romualdez aide’s access

A Sandiganbayan associate justice reprimanded a Quezon City jail warden for repeatedly changing her testimony on the access granted to suspended congressman Martin Romualdez’s personal assistant inside the detention facility.

Meanwhile, an Anti-Money Laundering Council investigator testified that bank transactions recorded in accounts linked to Romualdez reached P4.5 billion pesos during his tenure as House speaker, but said the agency had not established whether the transactions were within his financial capacity.

During Thursday’s bail hearing, Sandiganbayan Associate Justice Karl Miranda warned Bureau of Jail Management and Penology Superintendent Maria Lourdes Pacion to stop changing her account of the arrangements made for Romualdez’s personal assistant, Arvin de Guzman.

Pacion said De Guzman was allowed inside the Quezon City Jail in Payatas to assist Romualdez in using a Continuous Positive Airway Pressure, or CPAP, machine at night.

However, Miranda pointed out that Pacion had earlier testified that De Guzman was only allowed inside the facility during regular visiting hours, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The justice questioned how De Guzman could assist the former House speaker at night if he was only permitted inside during daytime visiting hours.

Pacion had previously told the court she granted a request from Romualdez’s lawyer to allow the congressman’s staff member to attend to him, saying the former House speaker was not yet mentally stable and required continuous medical care.

Miranda, however, said other detainees also experience depression and questioned why Romualdez was given special consideration when BJMP personnel could provide the necessary assistance.

He warned that the arrangement could create the impression that the jail was giving Romualdez preferential treatment, raising concerns about unequal treatment among detainees.

Miranda also questioned Pacion’s earlier testimony that there were no visiting hours at the facility on Mondays.

This was after photographs submitted by the warden showed De Guzman inside the jail on Monday, November 2, during Romualdez’s sunning exercise.

Pacion again cited humanitarian considerations as the reason for allowing the arrangement.

The court also questioned how the warden could ensure Romualdez had not left the detention facility, given that more than half of the jail’s CCTV cameras were not operational.

Pacion said the facility had a protocol requiring personnel to count persons deprived of liberty, or PDLs, three times a day. Jail nurses also check detainees’ blood pressure twice daily.

Miranda said he had doubts about the accuracy of Pacion’s testimony, but stressed that he was not suggesting Romualdez had left the premises.

Meanwhile, AMLC Bank Officer IV Atty. Jan Mark Busa testified that transactions recorded in bank accounts linked to Romualdez reached P4.5 billion from June 2022 to September 2025, covering the period he served as House speaker.

Busa said the value of these transactions dropped significantly to P384.7 million after Romualdez left the speakership.

However, Busa clarified that the AMLC had no finding establishing whether the transactions were within or beyond Romualdez’s financial means.

He also presented a comparison between the P57 billion in alleged kickbacks from infrastructure projects, as claimed by the Office of the Ombudsman, and the P560.6 million in inflows recorded in Romualdez’s bank accounts over the same period.

During cross-examination, Busa admitted that the AMLC had not established any link between the recorded inflows and illegal activity.

He also said the agency’s investigation did not establish that the funds came from contractors, the Department of Public Works and Highways, or former congressman Zaldy Co.

The prosecution, however, pointed out that the AMLC’s analysis was based only on recorded bank transactions and might not cover the alleged cash deliveries.

Busa also discussed the purchase of a property in Forbes Park, Makati City, through Golden Pheasants, an alleged shell company linked to Romualdez’s fraternity brother, Atty. Jose Paras.

Three manager’s checks worth a combined P1.394 billion were used for the transaction.

One check worth P294.23 million was purchased by Samchan Foreign Exchange Corporation, while two other checks totaling P1.1 billion were purchased by a law firm on March 29, 2023.

According to Busa, the funds used to purchase the manager’s checks came from 21 check deposits worth a combined P1.72 billion.

Another AMLC investigator, Bank Officer V Atty. McDonald Carsula, testified that companies linked to Paras recorded billions of pesos in transactions despite having relatively small paid-up capital.

Carsula said the volume of transactions increased substantially from millions to billions of pesos, which he described as grossly disproportionate to the companies’ paid-up capital.

The AMLC also found that Brightnews Corporation, allegedly owned by Paras, received a P27.78-million check from a bank account belonging to Romualdez’s wife, Tingog Party-list Rep. Yedda Romualdez.

Samchan Foreign Exchange Corporation also sent P9.95 million to Romualdez’s son in June 2025, according to the AMLC.

Carsula said that, taken together with the Ombudsman’s allegations, the transactions provided reasonable grounds to believe that Samchan’s accounts were used to move funds linked to illegal activity. – ANC, The World Tonight, November 12, 2026