LIVE UPDATES: Sandiganbayan hearing of Martin Romualdez's motion for hospital confinement

Two Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) transport vehicles with an escort ambulance on Thursday afternoon arrived at a San Juan hospital where former speaker and Leyte 1st District Martin Romualdez is confined.

According to GMA News' Mariz Umali, the BJMP vehicles arrived following a commitment order from Sandiganbayan for the transfer of Romualdez to the New Quezon City Jail Male Dormitory in Payatas.

Leyte Representive Martin Romualdez, who is facing a P7.4 billion plunder charge over flood control mess, will remain confined in the Cardinal Santos Medical Center until further orders from the anti-graft court, Sandiganbayan Third Division Clerk of Court Atty. Dennis Pulma said Thursday.

Pulma said this is because the court is not yet done with its deliberations on Romualdez’s motion seeking hospital confinement in Cardinal Santos due to heart and brain-related illnesses.

“The confinement of former Speaker [Romualdez] in Cardinal Santos will remain until further orders from the court,” Pulma told reporters. 

The Sandiganbayan has ordered the transfer of custody of former speaker and Leyte 1st District Representative Martin Romualdez from the Philippine National Police (PNP) to the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP).

Sandiganbayan Third Division chairperson Karl Miranda made the announcement after the anti-graft court issued a commitment order for Romualdez to be detained at the New Quezon City jail in Payatas, a facility which is under BJMP's jurisdiction.

Miranda made the announcement ahead of the hearing on Romualdez's motion to remain under hospital detention in Cardinal Santos Medical Center in San Juan over heart and brain-related health concerns.

Philippine National Police (PNP) Colonel John Guiagui, chief of the PNP-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group said the police will comply with the court's order.

"The custody [of former Speaker] will now be transferred to the BJMP," Guiagui told reporters. 

The doctor who admitted Leyte Representative Martin Romualdez to Cardinal Santos Medical Center said Thursday that something was unusual in the lawmaker's confinement at the hospital.

Dr. Kurt Allen Sibayan made the statement during the hearing on Romualdez's motion for continued confinement at Cardinal Santos amid a P7.4 billion plunder case he is facing over his alleged links to the flood control mess.

Sibayan told the Sandiganbayan Third Division that while he was the admitting physician when Romualdez arrived at 4 p.m. in Cardinal Santos on September 7, he was not allowed to conduct any medical examination on the former House speaker.

"We were advised that we were not allowed inside the patient's (Romualdez) room," he said.

He said the instruction was relayed to him by attending physicians of Romualdez, Dr. Rody Sy and Dr. Rosalio Torres.

Asked by Associate Justice Ronald Moreno if such prohibition is unusual, Sibayan answered in the affirmative.

The Sandiganbayan Third Division on Thursday issued a commitment order for the detention of former Speaker and Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez to the New Quezon City jail.

This developed ahead of the anti-graft court's hearing on Romualdez's motion to remain confined in Cardinal Santos Medical Center where he is being treated for heart and brain-related illnesses.

Romualdez is facing a P7.4 billion plunder charge over alleged involvement in the flood control mess.

Former House Speaker Martin Romualdez will not be present in Thursday's Sandiganbayan's hearing on his motion for continued hospital confinement, according to the Philippine National Police (PNP).

PNP Spokesperson Col. Allen Rae Co said that Romualdez's camp has a certification that says the former Speaker is "medically unfit" to travel.

"What I can confirm is a certification nila that the patient is medically unfit to travel outside the hospital as of now to physically appear before the Sandiganbayan," Co said in an interview on Unang Balita.

"Yun ang po nilabas, today, nilabas na certification... Yun ang nakuha naming information as of last night, siyempre they also have to coordinate with the CIDG," he added.

The Sandiganbayan has directed former Speaker Martin Romualdez to appear before a hearing on September 10, 2026 on his motion for continued hospital confinement.

Romualdez has remained hospitalized at Cardinal Santos Medical Center in San Juan City since Monday, when police served a warrant of arrest issued by the anti-graft court over a P7.4 billion plunder case.