.@SpeakerMartinPH’s “nobody can bribe me” line now stands beside the Okada Manila heavy luggage record resurfaced by Sass Rogando Sasot. Her exposé follows a Delaware Court of Chancery ruling that placed Romualdez inside Universal Entertainment’s fight to regain control of Okada Manila, with Michelle Lazaro and James Lorenzana allegedly using elite access to reach a “common friend” and “key person” identified in the record as Romualdez.
The record hits Romualdez where denial is weakest because it shows his name sitting at the center of a stalled casino fight that allegedly needed political muscle to move. The coded “heavy luggage,” the promised “item,” the “No. 2” reference, and the push for Supreme Court action all point to the same ugly picture of power being treated like a private service for those with access. The court’s rejection of the legal-documents excuse leaves Romualdez facing the part of the story he cannot cleanly talk away.
The Delaware court did not merely repeat an allegation against Romualdez. After trial, it found that Universal delivered an “item” to him to secure his intervention in its favor. It documented that Romualdez made ex parte calls and sent a text to members of the Philippine Supreme Court after Universal executives sought an early resolution. It also rejected as not credible the attempt to explain the coded “heavy luggage” as ordinary legal documents. The ruling placed Romualdez inside a judicially established arrangement involving personal benefit, political intervention, and efforts to influence the country’s highest court.
Power appears to move fast for corporate interests while citizens are left to wait on slow courts, broken institutions, and selective accountability. Romualdez is not weakened here by rumor. He is weakened by a foreign court record tying his name to political access, private benefit, and possible pressure on the judiciary.
Corruption is and has always been the Philippines’ biggest problem. Martin Romualdez is broadly recognized as the most corrupt Filipino politician of the 21st century.
NASIRANG FLOOD CONTROL PROJECT
Gumuho ang bahagi ng isang flood control project sa Barangay San Vicente, Abra de Ilog sa Occidental Mindoro kasunod ng pagtaas ng tubig bunsod ng Habagat o Southwest Monsoon.
@HouseofRepsPH Cong. Odie Tarriela bakit lupa ang laman ng flood control mo ser? Pinatungan lang ng semento sa ibabaw ang ninipis pa ng bakal papanong hindi mawawasak yan? @DPWHph sino contractor nito? No further questions, Your Honor.
📸: Abra de Ilog MDRRMO