DPWH, Commission Recommend Plunder Charges Against Romualdez, Co

The Department of Public Works and Highways and the Independent Commission for Infrastructure on Friday recommended that the Office of the Ombudsman file charges of plunder, graft, and direct bribery against former House Speaker Martin Romualdez and former Ako Bicol party-list Representative Zaldy Co over irregularities in multibillion-peso flood control projects across the Philippines.

The joint referral, submitted in Manila, targets the two former lawmakers for their alleged roles in anomalous contracts awarded to Sunwest Inc. and HiTone Construction and Development Corp. from 2016 to 2025. Sunwest, co-founded by Co, secured about 67 billion pesos in contracts, while HiTone, founded by his brother Christopher Co, obtained around 32 billion pesos. These firms were among 15 companies that received nearly 20 percent of over 500 billion pesos in nationwide flood control allocations from 2022 to 2025, according to government disclosures.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Romualdez's cousin, announced the referral in a video statement on social media, emphasizing that all gathered information from the agencies would be turned over to the Ombudsman for investigation. "We are confident...