Martin Romualdez | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Official portrait, 2025 | |
| Member of thePhilippine House of Representatives fromLeyte's 1st district | |
| Assumed office June 30, 2019 | |
| Preceded by | Yedda Marie Romualdez |
| In office June 30, 2007 – June 30, 2016 | |
| Preceded by | Remedios Petilla |
| Succeeded by | Yedda Marie Romualdez |
| 28th Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Philippines | |
| In office July 25, 2022 – September 17, 2025 | |
| Preceded by | Lord Allan Velasco |
| Succeeded by | Bojie Dy |
| House Majority Leader | |
| In office July 22, 2019 – June 30, 2022 | |
| Preceded by | Fredenil Castro |
| Succeeded by | Mannix Dalipe |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Ferdinand Martin Gomez Romualdez[1] (1963-11-14)November 14, 1963 (age 62) |
| Party | Lakas (2006–present) |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 4, includingAndrew Julian |
| Parent(s) | Benjamin Romualdez Juliette Gomez |
| Relatives | Romualdez family |
| Alma mater | |
Ferdinand Martin Gomez Romualdez, Sr. (Tagalog pronunciation:[ˈgɔmɛsɾoˈmwɐldɛs], born November 14, 1963) is a Filipino businessman, lawyer, and politician who served as the 28thspeaker of the House of Representatives from 2022 until his resignation in 2025 which followed claims of his alleged involvement in ghost flood control projects. He has also served as the representative forLeyte's first district since 2019 and previously from 2007 to 2016. He was previously theHouse Majority Leader from 2019 to 2022. He is a first cousin of PresidentBongbong Marcos.
Born to the fourth generation of theRomualdez family ofTacloban City,Leyte Province, he graduated fromCornell University in the United States and pursued legal studies at theUniversity of the Philippines College of Law, being admitted to the bar in 1993. Romualdez entered government in 2007 after being elected to theHouse of Representatives, being reelected in 2010 and 2013. Upon being term-limited as a representative in 2016, he sought a seat in theSenate and lost.
Romualdez was elected back to the lower chamber in 2019. During his second tenure, he managed the successfulvice presidential campaign ofSara Duterte. He was elected as speaker in 2022. During his speakership, Romualdez played a key role in the Marcos–Duterte rift and pursuedconstitutional reforms that were marred by irregularities.
Ferdinand Martin Gomez Romualdez is the third child of formerLeyte Governor and Ambassador to the United StatesBenjamin Romualdez and Juliette Gomez-Romualdez.[3][4][5] His father was once named byForbes as the 30th richest man in the Philippines with a net worth of₱3.3 billion, which thePresidential Commission on Good Government claimed was ill-gotten.[6] He is the nephew of former first ladyImelda Marcos and former PresidentFerdinand Marcos, while incumbent PresidentBongbong and SenatorImee Marcos are his cousins.[3][4]
Romualdez attendedCornell University in the United States from 1981 to 1985, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in government.[3][4][7] In 1988, he earned aCertificate of Special Studies in Administration and Management fromHarvard University. He later enrolled at theUniversity of the Philippines College of Law in 1988, becoming aUpsilon Sigma Phi fraternity member. He earned hisBachelor of Laws degree in 1992.[3][4][8] He was admitted to thebar in 1993.
In 1992, Romualdez was appointed concurrent trustee and president of the Doña Remedios Trinidad Romualdez Medical Foundation and Dr. Vicente Orestes Romualdez Educational Foundation, both of which are owned by his family.[9]
In 1995, he started work as a director and legal counsel for the CARPA Realty Development Corporation. Prior to his political career, Romualdez served as chairman of the board forEquitable PCI Bank.[10] He also served as a chairman ofBenguet Corporation.[11]
Romualdez was first elected as representative ofLeyte's first district in2007. He was re-elected in2010 and in2013.
In April 2014, Romualdez expressed interest in running for senator in the2016 elections.[12] He filed his certificate of candidacy for senator on October 13, 2015.[13] On November 7, 2015, Romualdez declared his support for presidential candidateJejomar Binay.[14] In 2016Davao City Mayor and presidential aspirantRodrigo Duterte also endorsed the candidacy of Romualdez.[15] He ran under theLakas–CMD party, which he is the national president of, but ultimately failed to win a senate seat, placing 15th.[16][13]
In the2019 elections, Romualdez again won as representative ofLeyte's first district. Romualdez was later elected asMajority Floor Leader of the House of Representatives of the Philippines for the18th Congress. He was re-elected in2022 and in2025.
In December 2021, Romualdez became the campaign manager ofSara Duterte's vice presidential campaign alongsideDavao OccidentalGovernorClaude Bautista.[17][18][19]
Romualdez authored House Bill No. 1039, which was enacted into law by PresidentBenigno Aquino III as Republic Act No. 10754, orAn act on expanding the benefits and privileges of people with disabilities.[20]
On July 10, 2020, Martin and his wifeYedda Marie Romualdez were among the 70 representatives who voted to reject thefranchise renewal of ABS-CBN.[21]
Romualdez was asSpeaker of the House of Representativeselected in July 2022, receiving the votes of the 284 House members.[22] During his speakership, Romualdez also assumed legislative caretaker roles for the majority of the vacated districts during the19th Congress, such asCavite–7th (laterfilled byCrispin Diego Remulla),[23]Negros Oriental–3rd,Batangas–6th,Palawan–3rd,Palawan–1st,Cavite–4th, andNegros Occidental–3rd.[24][25]
In November 2022, Romualdez, along with six other lawmakers, filed House Bill No. 6398 proposing the creation of theMaharlika Investment Fund, asovereign wealth fund for the Philippines inspired bySouth Korea'sKorea Investment Corporation.[26][27] The proposal drew mixed reactions from economists and mostly negative reactions from the general public.[28][29]
In February 2025, election watchdogKontra Daya tagged Tingog Sinirangan as among the party-list groups with ties topolitical dynasties in the Philippines, with its nominees being the wife and son of Romualdez.[30] Kontra Daya said that more than half of party-list organizations vying for slots in the House of Representatives do not represent marginalized groups, having links to political dynasties, big business, or corruption cases. Tingog Sinirangan's candidacy deserves scrutiny, especially since House Speaker Romualdez is a cousin of President Bongbong Marcos, according to Kontra Daya.[31]
From 2023 to 2025, Romualdez received ₱14.4 billion of "allocable" funds from the national budget, which is the second highest amount approved by Congress for its members in the House of Representatives. "Allocable" funds have been criticized by the People’s Budget Coalition as a new form of pork barrel, since it goes to "politically determined projects that crowd out more equitable and accountable public spending".[32]
The Right to Know Right Now Coalition alleged that public funds went to massive corruption through congressional insertions and unprogrammed funds, which were channeled to flood-control projects that rose significantly in 2023 and 2024 while Romualdez was House Speaker, Zaldo Co was House Committee on Appropriations chair,Francis Escudero was Senate president, andJoel Villanueva was majority floor leader.[33]
Romualdez was instrumental in the deepening rift between theMarcos andDuterte families.[34][35][36][37][38] Under Romualdez's watch, the House denied Vice President and Education SecretarySara Duterte's requests for confidential funds that could be used for the Education department's proposedReserve Officers' Training Corps program[39] but swiftly passed the same funds for theOffice of the President;[40] this led Sara's father and former PresidentRodrigo Duterte to allege a connivance between Romualdez and the leftistMakabayan bloc in stripping Sara of confidential funds.[39] Rodrigo Duterte criticized the House as the "most rotten institution" in the country[41] and demanded an audit of the House under Romualdez;[42] Duterte's comments offended some House members[43] including Romualdez,[44] prompting the House to issue a loyalty check resolution in support of Romualdez. Shortly after, the House expelled Duterte's political allies former president and RepresentativesGloria Macapagal-Arroyo andIsidro Ungab as Deputy House Speakers for failing to sign the resolution.[45] Several House members of Duterte's party,PDP–Laban, later party-switched, mostly to the Romualdez-ledLakas-CMD,[46] In late November 2023, reports circulated that some House members want Vice President Sara impeached.[47] The House later began tackling at least three house resolutions filed separately by the Makabayan bloc, House Human Rights Panel chairpersonBienvenido Abante Jr. and1-Rider Partylist Rep.Ramon Rodrigo Gutierrez, and Albay 1st District Rep.Edcel Lagman[48] urging the Marcos administration to cooperate with the International Criminal Court's investigation intoDuterte's war on drugs; Romualdez denied prioritizing the measures.[49]
A month later, theNational Telecommunications Commission imposed a 30-day suspension onSMNI, a media network which hosted Rodrigo Duterte's platformGikan sa Masa, Para sa Masa, after the House adopted a resolution filed byPBA Partylist Representative Margarita Nograles, who claimed that the network was propagatingfalse information.[50] Two hosts of another SMNI talk show,Laban Kasama ang Bayan, were detained and cited in contempt by the House after one of its hosts–Jeffrey Celiz–refused to reveal his source for his claim that Romualdez had₱1.8 billion worth of travel funds.[51]
Amid the feud between the Marcos and Duterte clans in late April 2023, Romualdez said the House will probe into an agreement Duterte made during his presidency withChinese leaderXi Jinping. Under the agreement, Duterte agreed to maintain the "status quo" in the South China Sea to avoid escalating a war. Political analystRonald Llamas said the probe was engineered by President Bongbong Marcos as a "political payback" to Duterte's verbal attacks and to reduce Duterte's political influence ahead of the2025 midterm elections.[52]
Efforts to amend the Constitution intensified in January 2024 after pro-Charter Change group, People's Initiative for Reform Modernization and Action (PIRMA), admitted talking with Romualdez and claimed responsibility for a signature drive campaign that attempted to start aPeople's Initiative.[53] The proponents proposed that both chambers of the Congress—the House of Representatives and the Senate—vote jointly on the proposed amendments in aconstitutional assembly; consequentially, the 24-member Senate unanimously rejected the proposal since its vote would be overpowered by the 316-member House.[54] The signature drive has been marred by allegations of vote-buying,[55] and by the evening of January 23, the proponents claimed to have achieved the required minimum 12 percent of national voters threshold.[56] Romualdez denied spearheading the initiative, although a video evidence showing the opposite was later disclosed by SenatorFrancis Escudero.[57] As of December 2023, Romualdez is the president of the Philippine Constitution Association.[58]
Months leading up to the height of theflood control projects controversy in the Philippines in September 2025, media speculation arose regarding a possible leadership change in the lower house, especially afterSarah Discaya implicated Romualdez in the alleged anomalies.[59] By September 6, Executive SecretaryLucas Bersamin rebuked Congress under Romualdez's speakership, urging the speaker to "clean up your house first".[60] Romualdez, along with his ally and former appropriations chairZaldy Co, has drawn criticism over alleged involvement in the 2025 General Appropriations Act, which opponents denounce as one of the most flawed and corrupt spending measures ever approved.[61]
At a House of Representatives corruption probe on September 8 2025, contractor Curlee Discaya implicated Romualdez in alleged kickbacks from public works contracts.[62] On September 17, Romualdez formally resigned as speaker, a move Deputy SpeakerJay Khonghun described as one that aimed to allow Romualdez to better clarify his role in the allegations made against him. Leading up to Romualdez's resignation, media outlets reported thatBojie Dy was a leading candidate to replace the former as speaker.[63] Dy was eventually elected as House Speaker on the same day, garnering 253 votes.[64]
During aSenate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing on September 25, 2025, Orly Guteza testified that he regularly delivered luggage filled with cash to Romualdez's residence while working as a security aide to Zaldy Co.[65] The amount allegedly delivered to Romualdez was an estimated ₱1.68 billion.[66]
On September 30, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said that it was investigating Romualdez in connection with the flood control corruption scandal.[67] The DOJ issued an immigration lookout order on October 8 against Romualdez and senators Francis Escudero, Joel Villanueva, Jinggoy Estrada, upon the request of theIndependent Commission for Infrastructure.[68]
On December 18, Department of Public Works and Highways recommended the filing of charges for plunder, malversation, graft and bribery against Romualdez and 86 other people.[69] The Independent Commission for Infrastructure also recommended the filing of plunder, graft, and bribery charges against Romualdez and Zaldy Co before theOffice of the Ombudsman.[70]
In December 2025,Alyansa Tigil Mina and other environmental groups pushed for the passage of an anti-dynasty law, pointing out alleged links betweenpolitical dynasties and mining companies.[71] A report by Alyansa Tigil Mina and Global Witness pointed out links between Romualdez and Marcventures Mining and Development Corporation,[71] Benguet Corporation, and Brightgreen Resources Corporation.[72] "When politicians are beneficial owners or when politicians are part of the value chain of mining operations, we cannot expect compliance with environmental laws and other regulatory policies", said Alyansa Tigil Mina.[71]
Romualdez is the owner of the newspaper companiesManila Standard andJournal Group of Publications and the mass media firmPhilippine Collective Media Corporation.[73]
Romualdez marriedYedda Marie Kittilstvedt, who represented the Philippines atMiss International 1996, in civil rites inHong Kong in November 1999, with a church wedding following at Santuario de San Antonio inForbes Park, Makati, on February 4, 2001.[74] They have four children and currently live in Tacloban and Makati. Their sons Ferdinand Martin Romualdez Jr., also known as Marty, andAndrew Julian Romualdez are also in politics, having been elected as a councilor of Tacloban and a representative ofTingog Party List in 2025, respectively.[75]
| Year | Office | Party | Votes received | Result | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | % | P. | Swing | |||||
| 2007 | Representative (Leyte–1st) | Lakas | N/a | 1st | N/a | Won | ||
| 2010 | 99,807 | 60.05% | 1st | N/a | Won | |||
| 2013 | 122,022 | 56.05% | 1st | N/a | Unopposed | |||
| 2019 | 160,401 | N/a | 1st | N/a | Won | |||
| 2022 | 181,415 | 100.00% | 1st | N/a | Unopposed | |||
| 2025 | 177,486 | 100.00% | 1st | N/a | Unopposed | |||
| 2016 | Senator of the Philippines | 12,325,824 | 27.40% | 15th | N/a | Lost | ||
On Monday, June 5, Duterte deliberately skipped mentioning the President's middle name [Romualdez] as she acknowledged the Chief Executive during her speech[....] 'I won't mention your middle initial. You know that I love you,' Duterte said, without explaining her action.
Duterte had accused Speaker Martin Romualdez and House committee appropriations chairmanZaldy Co of meddling in the 2023 budget of theDepartment of Education (DepEd) when she was the education secretary[...]
Media related toFerdinand Martin Romualdez at Wikimedia Commons| House of Representatives of the Philippines | ||
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| Preceded by Remedios Petilla | Member of theHouse of Representatives fromLeyte 2007–2016 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by Yedda Romualdez | Member of theHouse of Representatives fromLeyte 2019–present | Incumbent |
| Preceded by | House Majority Leader 2019–2022 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Philippines 2022–2025 | Succeeded by |
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