US cancels Martin Romualdez’s visas

MANILA, Philippines — The United States has canceled the diplomatic and tourist/business visas of former House speaker Leyte Representative Martin Romualdez, Manila’s envoy to Washington confirmed on Friday, June 5.

“All I can say is it’s confirmed. I don’t have any details,” said Ambassador Jose Manuel Romualdez in a message. Ambassador Romualdez is a cousin of Representative Romualdez. The two are cousins of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. through the latter’s mother, former first lady Imelda Marcos.

Ambassador Romualdez said the information was confirmed to him “only now.”

Representative Romualdez, once among the closest aides to Marcos and a constant in his engagements abroad, faces complaints before the Ombudsman for plunder, graft, money laundering, and direct and indirect bribery.

The Ombudsman, headed by close Marcos ally Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla, has accused Representative Romualdez of being the “purported mastermind” of an alleged corruption scheme related to ghost flood control projects.

The Leyte representative had earlier asked the anti-graft court Sandiganbayan to lift his precautionary hold departure order (PHDO), which bars him from overseas travel. That request has been rejected.

The US embassy in the Philippines, through a spokesperson, earlier declined to comment on individual visa cases over confidentiality laws. This has been a standard embassy response to questions over alleged cancelation of visas against specific individuals.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) also declined to comment, referring the matter to the US embassy in the Philippines.

A US visa may be revoked at any time and for a wide range of reasons. An explainer by the US embassy in the Dominican Republic notes that a visa can be revoked “if an individual is arrested, convicted of a crime, behaves in ways that don’t match their visa type, overstays in the United States, or is determined to be a threat to public safety or national security, in addition to other reasons.”

Representative Romualdez has yet to be indicted or charged before a court, since the Ombudsman’s complaint against him is still at the preliminary investigation level. – Rappler.com