THE Office of the Ombudsman brushed off on Thursday, August 20, 2026, the supposed recantation of retired Sergeant Orly Guteza, who claimed to have delivered millions of pesos in cash in suitcases to former House Speaker Martin Romualdez.
In a statement, the Office of the Ombudsman said 28 more witnesses are ready to testify against Romualdez.
It said these witnesses are already undergoing interviews with the investigation panel.
“Ito'y mga taong nakauniporme at aktibo pa rin sa serbisyo,” the statement read.
“Sa lahat ng nabigyan na o mabibigyan pa ng legal process, hindi choice ang pakikipagtulungan. Obligasyon 'yan sa batas. Sinuman ang mangahas humadlang, mangbara o manggulo sa proceedings ng Ombudsman ay haharap sa buong bigat ng batas,” it added.
The Ombudsman said it will not stop until it uncovers the truth.
Last week, four of the 18 alleged ex-bodyguards of former Ako Bicol party-list Representative Zaldy Co also recanted their statements, similar to Guteza’s.
The statements of the four individuals were reportedly vital to the Ombudsman’s “grand case” against Romualdez for alleged conspiracy to defraud the national treasury and money laundering in connection with an alleged anomalous budget insertion scheme involving billions of pesos in flood control funds.
Romualdez filed his counter-affidavit before the Ombudsman, including the recantations of the four ex-bodyguards.
While the Ombudsman has yet to receive copies of the recantations from the said individuals, it said it is looking into including the four ex-bodyguards in the plunder complaint against Romualdez. (TPM/SunStar Philippines)