Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez delivers his welcome remarks during the Cornell Club of the Philippines "Speaker and Forum" on Financial Literacy held Friday afternoon at Manila Golf and Country Club,Makati City.
THE Independent Commission on Infrastructure (ICI) just confirmed that it made no finding of liability and did not recommend the filing of plunder charges against former Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez, House Committee on Higher and Technical Education chair Jude A. Acidre said Tuesday, disputing claims made by Navotas Rep. Tobias “Toby” Tiangco.
Acidre anchored his statement on the language of the ICI’s own referral, which states, “This referral is issued without any finding or conclusion of guilt or liability on the part of former Speaker Martin Romualdez.”
“The Independent Commission on Infrastructure (ICI) has now affirmed what I stated from the outset: Rep. Toby Tiangco was misleading the public when he claimed that the ICI recommended the filing of plunder charges against former Speaker Martin Romualdez. There is no such recommendation,” Acidre said.
The ICI document, he pointed out, does not mention any suggestion to file plunder charges, which goes against Tiangco’s earlier claim that connected Romualdez to supposed misconduct related to flood control projects.
Acidre explained that the ICI functions as a fact-finding body under Executive Order No. 94, with the mandate to recommend appropriate cases to proper authorities, but emphasized that no such recommendation was made in this instance.
He underscored two critical points. First, the ICI is a fact-finding body, created under Executive Order No. 94, mandated to recommend the filing of appropriate cases before the proper authorities. In this case, it made no such finding,” he said.
“Second, the referral was made to allow the Ombudsman to conduct its own investigation, as the Commission has not made a liability determination,” he added.
He reiterated in Filipino that the claim of a plunder recommendation has no basis in the document.
“Walang rekomendasyon na kasuhan si Speaker Romualdez ng plunder gaya ng sinasabi ni Rep. Toby Tiangco,” Acidre said.
Acidre warned that misrepresenting official documents risks eroding public trust in institutions tasked with independent review.
“This kind of reckless misrepresentation undermines public trust in independent institutions and misleads the Filipino people,” he said.
He added that in other cases, the ICI had expressly recommended the filing of charges against identified individuals, underscoring that no such recommendation appears in the referral involving Romualdez.
