MANILA — The camp of former House Speaker Martin Romualdez on Wednesday stressed that the Sandiganbayan’s 90-day preventive suspension order does not constitute a finding of guilt in the plunder case against him.

Romualdez’s counsel, Atty. Ade Fajardo, said the anti-graft court itself acknowledged that the former speaker’s alleged participation in the scheme and receipt of kickbacks have yet to be established during trial.

“The court has not found Martin guilty of plunder. It has not established that he received a single peso in illegal commissions or kickbacks,” Fajardo said in a statement.

He maintained that preventive suspension was mandatory under the law.

The Sandiganbayan Third Division ordered Romualdez, the incumbent Leyte 1st District representative, to cease and desist from performing his official functions for 90 days upon receipt of the resolution. The order was confirmed by the division’s clerk of court on Tuesday.

The resolution stated that the acts allegedly attributable to Romualdez, his degree of participation, and the specific transactions through which he supposedly received kickbacks or commissions “are matters to be threshed out and established during trial.”

“An allegation is not evidence. A valid Information is not a conviction. The prosecution must still prove its case beyond reasonable doubt,” Fajardo said.

He also pointed out that Romualdez was already detained and could no longer exercise the ordinary powers of his congressional office.

Fajardo said Romualdez respects the court’s ruling and will assess the legal remedies available to him.

“Hindi hatol ng pagkakasala ang suspension. Mismong korte ang nagsabing kailangan pang patunayan ang mga paratang. Hindi sapat ang akusasyon—kailangan ng ebidensya,” he said.

Romualdez faces a plunder charge over allegations that he and former Ako Bicol party-list representative Zaldy Co received at least ₱7.44 billion in kickbacks from contractors and other entities involved in government flood control, infrastructure and other projects from 2022 to 2025.

The Office of the Ombudsman alleged that the two lawmakers received commissions and other financial benefits through at least 15 transactions, with some proceeds supposedly laundered through shell corporations, financial intermediaries and property acquisitions.

Romualdez has denied the allegations and pleaded not guilty.

He was arrested on September 7 at Cardinal Santos Medical Center in San Juan City, where he was confined when authorities served the Sandiganbayan warrant. He was transferred to the New Quezon City Jail Male Dormitory in Payatas on September 14 following a medical assessment at the Philippine General Hospital.

The plunder case also involves allegations of irregularities in more than 400 government infrastructure projects. During hearings, Department of Public Works and Highways Programming Division Chief Peter Paul Cortez testified that Romualdez was listed as a proponent of approximately ₱27.4 billion worth of infrastructure projects in the agency’s 2025 database.

Cortez said the project listings bypassed the DPWH’s standard review process and appeared after the General Appropriations Act was passed through bicameral conference committee deliberations.

Navotas Rep. Toby Tiangco also testified that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. had previously reprimanded Romualdez over project fund allocations during the budget process.