Martin Romualdez free to talk with detained senators 'if he wants' —DILG's Remulla

Leyte Representative and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez is free to speak with other detained lawmakers in the Quezon City Jail if wanted to, according to Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla on Tuesday.

In a press conference the day after the lawmaker was transferred to the Quezon City Jail Male Dormitory from the Philippine General Hospital, Remulla said that Romualdez’s doctors advised him to have 30 minutes of exercise daily, so he could go out of the infirmary ward and meet with other persons deprived of liberty (PDL).

“Kung gusto niya, it's his prerogative kung pupunta siya doon sa mess hall ng mga ibang senators. Pero as of… ilang hours pa lang siya doon. So hindi pa natin alam kung ano 'yung preference niya,” Remulla said.

(If he wants, it’s his prerogative if he will go to the mess hall of the other senators. But as of…he has only been there for a few hours. So we do not know what his preference is.)

While Remulla did not name names, Senators Jinggoy Estrada and Rodante Marcoleta are also detained in the QC Jail.

Like Romualdez, Estrada is also faced with plunder and graft charges in relation to the multi-billion flood control scam. The senator is accused of receiving P573 million in kickbacks from bogus flood control and infrastructure projects.

Meanwhile, Marcoleta is facing a plunder case after he admitted to receiving P75 million in campaign donations that were undeclared in his Statement of Contributions and Expenditures.

Romualdez is facing plunder charges in connection with P7.2 billion in alleged kickbacks from government infrastructure projects.

His co-accused, former Ako Bicol party-list Rep. Zaldy Co, Samchan Foreign Exchange Corp. president Felicito Guevarra, and Romualdez’s personal assistant Joselin Sereño are all at large. —AOL, GMA News