Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla on Tuesday, April 21, said his office is waiting for the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) to file a freeze order on the assets of former House speaker Martin Romualdez due to reported money laundering.
In a press briefing, Remulla said the Office of the Ombudsman has already endorsed a freeze order before the AMLC.
“We’re waiting for the Romualdez cases to start rolling, and the first case would be about money laundering,” he said.
He said that Romualdez was supposed to have a medical check-up in Singapore today, April 21.
Since there is a look-out order against Romualdez, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) did not respond favorably to his request, Remulla also said.
He pointed out that Romualdez can just get his medical check-up in the country as there are a lot of good Filipino doctors and specialists.
When asked about the cases against former Senate president Francis “Chiz” Escudero and if there is also a request from AMLC to freeze his assets, Remulla answered: “We will get there also.”
He explained that the complaint against Escudero will go through the preliminary investigation stage soon. “It’s related to corruption and money laundering,” he said.
“The theories are very strong, and the papers are being prepared as we speak,” he added. (Czarina Nicole Ong Ki)
