THE Sandiganbayan Third Division issued on Thursday, September 10,2026, an order for the detention of former House Speaker and Leyte Representative Martin Romualdez at the New Quezon City jail in Payatas.
However, the court is yet to order the transfer of Romualdez to the male dormitory of the New Quezon City Jail from the Cardinal Santos Medical Center where he is confined.
The court simply directed the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) to take over the custody of Romualdez from the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG).
Romualdez was served an arrest warrant issued by the Sandiganbayan Third Division on Monday evening, September 7, while confined at the Cardinal Santos Medical Center following a cardiovascular event brought about by unstable blood pressure and anxiety.
He was arrested hours after the Office of the Ombudsman filed P7.4 billion plunder charges against him, fugitive former Ako-Bicol party-list representative Zaldy Co and two others over an alleged web of illegal activities to amass people’s money.
Romualdez’s lawyers filed a motion seeking the court’s approval for him to continue his hospital confinement which was immediately opposed by Ombudsman prosecutors and Interior and Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla who said that the lawmaker’s medical concerns could be addressed by government doctors while in detention in a regular jail.
During the hearing on Romualdez's motion, Dr. Kurt Allen Sibayan, who facilitated the lawmaker’s admission, said Romualdez arrived at Cardinal Santos with complaints of chest pain at around 4 p.m. and went directly to the hospital room.
When asked if Romualdez’s condition was considered an emergency at the time of his arrival at the hospital, Sibayan responded in the negative. The doctor added that Romualdez remains at high risk of a heart attack.
However, Sibayan said they were not allowed inside the patient’s room to conduct any medical examinations upon the instruction of Romualdez’s attending physicians, Dr. Rody Sy and Dr. Rosalio Torres.
Sibayan said he found such prohibition “unusual.”
Romualdez reportedly suffered a stroke sometime in July that was “not that serious,” according to Remulla.
Meanwhile, Torres maintained his position that Romualdez should remain detained in Cardinal Santos Medical Center because he was at “high risk of a possible heart attack” due to an unstable angina with underlying coronary disease./ TPM