THE Office of the Ombudsman said 28 witnesses remain ready to testify in its investigation of former Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez, signaling that recent witness recantations would not derail the case.
“Recantation is not new in high-profile cases,” the Ombudsman said in a statement in Filipino on Thursday. “This is a classic pressure tactic. The entire investigation does not revolve around one or even a few witnesses.”
The agency said the 28 witnesses are uniformed personnel still in active service and are already under legal process, with direct and material knowledge of the transactions under investigation.
The statement came after former soldier Orly R. Guteza, a security aide to fugitive former lawmaker Elizaldy “Zaldy” S. Co, recanted an earlier statement in a fresh affidavit. He said he had no personal knowledge of the alleged delivery of suitcases containing cash to residences linked to Mr. Co and Mr. Romualdez.
Mr. Guteza testified before the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee in September 2025 that he personally delivered luggage containing cash. Earlier, four of Mr. Co’s 18 former security personnel also withdrew statements alleging cash deliveries involving Mr. Romualdez, Mr. Co, President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. and others.
The Ombudsman said recantations would not affect its probe. Ombudsman Jesus Crispin C. Remulla on Aug. 7 alleged that Mr. Romualdez’s camp was behind four earlier recantations.
“Who else would benefit if they recant?” he told a press conference in Filipino.
Mr. Romualdez denied the allegation.
“The recantations prove what I had been saying all along — that the accusations against me are false and trumped up,” he said in a statement on Aug. 7. “This is not how a fair search for the truth is conducted.”
He said he would face the allegations with “the facts, the evidence and the truth.”
The Ombudsman also warned that parties under legal process are required to cooperate with its proceedings.
“For everyone who has been or will be placed under legal process, cooperation is not a choice,” he said. “It is an obligation under the law. Anyone who dares to obstruct, impede or disrupt the Ombudsman’s proceedings will face the full force of the law.”
“The search for the truth will not stop even if no one is willing to speak,” it added.
Mr. Romualdez’s camp argued that the complaint relies on conflicting witness accounts and lacks documentary, physical or forensic evidence linking him to the transactions.
“It appears there is no forensic, physical or documentary evidence linking the former Speaker,” Abdiel Dan Elijah S. Fajardo, counsel and spokesman for Mr. Romualdez, said in a statement on Thursday.
He said oral testimony is the “most unreliable” form of evidence because such accounts could be manufactured.
“It’s a noncase. It should be dismissed because there is no evidence left except the oral accounts, and the oral accounts are conflicting and keep changing,” he said.
The case stems from a 104-page supplemental complaint filed by a special Ombudsman panel on July 20 against Mr. Romualdez, Mr. Co and others. The panel recommended charges of plunder, bribery, violations of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act and the Anti-Money Laundering Act.
The panel alleged that the respondents diverted and misused public funds, and pocketed about P56 billion in ill-gotten wealth from 2022 to 2025.
Meanwhile, Malacañang on Thursday said Mr. Guteza’s recantation raised concerns about possible efforts to undermine the justice system and destabilize the government.
“The Palace sees the implication as many are attempting to create false stories to destroy whoever they want to destroy, and one possible reason for this is destabilization,” Palace Press Officer Clarissa A. Castro told reporters in Filipino.
“If it is proven that he merely made up stories, this will not help in pursuing the people who should be held accountable,” Ms. Castro said. — Mark Joseph M. Sanchez and Erika Mae P. Sinaking