FORMER House Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez had already appeared noticeably frail and had lost considerable weight even before his arrest and subsequent hospital confinement, according to House prosecution adviser and spokesperson Ace Barbers.
Barbers said he personally saw and spoke with Romualdez about a week before authorities served the arrest warrant in connection with a plunder case linked to the flood control controversy.
“You know, just about a week ago, no, I saw him, nagkausap kami. Nakita ko siya. In fact, the first thing I told him, sabi ko, ‘You lost a lot of weight,’ sabi ko, ‘from the last time,’” House prosecution adviser and spokesperson Ace Barbers recounted during an interview Wednesday on One News’ Morning Matters.
Barbers addressed Romualdez’s condition amid public scrutiny over the former speaker’s continued hospital confinement after authorities served an arrest warrant against him in connection with a plunder case arising from the flood control controversy.
“Yes, you know, marami talagang sakit si Speaker Martin. Nakita niyo naman ‘yung kanyang itsura ngayon compared sa itsura niya, say, six months ago,” Barbers noted.
Romualdez was placed under police custody while confined in the hospital, with his medical condition becoming the subject of proceedings over whether he should remain there or eventually be transferred to a detention facility.
Barbers maintained that the physical change he observed was substantial and noticeable long before the arrest itself, contrasting Romualdez’s present appearance with how he looked several months earlier.
“He was overweight six to eight months ago, but now, look at him now; he’s so thin, medyo frail ang kanyang itsura. Sa aking pagkakatingin sa kanya, he’s really very weak,” Barbers stressed.
Romualdez’s camp has cited several health conditions in seeking continued medical confinement while he faces the plunder proceedings, with the proper place of detention ultimately subject to the Sandiganbayan’s determination.
Barbers stressed that his assessment was based on his own personal encounters with Romualdez rather than merely on photographs released after the former speaker was placed under arrest.
“In the case of Speaker Martin, as far as I know him personally, yes, he has lost a lot of weight. I’ve always been observing that every time I see him, sinasabi ko sa kanya, ‘Medyo lumaki ‘yung bawas ng timbang mo,’” Barbers added.
Romualdez remains entitled to the presumption of innocence as the plunder case proceeds before the anti-graft court, Barbers stressed.
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