MANILA – Malacañang on Wednesday said it would not interfere in the legal proceedings against former House Speaker Martin Romualdez, stressing that the courts should determine the case based on evidence and the law.

Romualdez, a cousin of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., was arrested Monday evening on a Sandiganbayan warrant in connection with plunder charges filed by the Office of the Ombudsman.

Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said decisions concerning Romualdez’s custody and medical condition should be left to the proper authorities and his doctors.

“Sa ngayon walang pinag-uusapan tungkol sa hospital arrest, depende na po kasi iyan kung ano po ang magiging findings ng doktor (For now, there is no discussion about hospital arrest. It will depend on the doctor’s findings),” Castro said during a Palace briefing.

Castro was responding to Romualdez’s camp seeking his continued confinement at the hospital following his arrest.

She also rejected suggestions that Romualdez was receiving special treatment by remaining hospitalized, saying law enforcement authorities had acted on the arrest warrant while doctors should determine whether he was medically fit for transfer.

“Hindi naman din maipipilit ng (Philippine National Police) o ng pamunuan ng (Department of the Interior and Local Government) na dalhin agad ang isang akusado na nasertipikahan na hindi pa nararapat na tanggalin or i-remove from the hospital (The PNP or DILG leadership cannot force an accused to be brought out immediately from the hospital when doctors have certified that he is not yet fit to be removed or transferred from the hospital),” she said.

The Palace, she added, would give Romualdez’s doctors the “benefit of the doubt” regarding his medical condition.

Asked whether Marcos had spoken with Romualdez or intended to visit him, Castro said she had received no information about such a plan.

She also declined to comment on the President’s personal feelings about his cousin’s arrest, saying the focus should remain on accountability and the judicial process.

“Ang kailangan lang po dito ay dapat mapanagot ang dapat na mapanagot. Hindi na po siguro makakaapekto kung anuman ang damdamin ng Pangulo – masaya, malungkot, anuman – hindi na po siya importante (What is needed here is for those who should be held accountable, be held accountable. Whatever the President’s feelings may be – whether happy, sad, or anything else – are no longer important),” Castro said.

Castro likewise rejected claims that Romualdez had been “nilaglag” or abandoned by the administration.

“Okay, hindi ko gusto iyong word na ‘nilaglag’… Dahil ito naman po, according to the Office of the Ombudsman, mayroon silang nakitang ebidensiya. So, walang dapat nilalaglag dito; kung ano lang iyong ebidensiya na nandidiyan, iyon lang – doon lang tayo bumase (Okay, I do not like the word ‘abandoned.’ According to the Office of the Ombudsman, they found evidence. So, no one is being abandoned here. We should base this only on whatever evidence is there),” she said.

The Ombudsman filed plunder charges against Romualdez, former Ako-Bicol Party-list representative Zaldy Co, and two others over the alleged misuse of PHP7.4 billion in government funds.

The anti-graft body said it would oppose Romualdez’s request for continued hospital confinement and seek an assessment by government doctors on whether his condition could be managed outside the hospital.

(PNA)