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Former House speaker Martin Romualdez is being investigated by the Office of the Ombudsman for money laundering while the anti-graft court Sandiganbayan has already released a precautionary hold departure order (PHDO) to stop him from traveling abroad while investigations are ongoing.
Among the bases of the Ombudsman's investigation is a company called Golden Pheasant, whose owner is a lawyer connected to Romualdez. It also bought a P1.67-billion house in Forbes Park in 2023. The Ombudsman said the company and the lawyer showed signs of money laundering.
Our own digging has led us to a total of six companies that acquired five real estate properties from 2023 to 2025. These were the years when Romualdez was at the height of power as House speaker. The people behind these companies, our own investigation showed, are also connected to Romualdez himself.
In our own probe into the lifestyle of personalities tagged in the flood control scam, we noticed a pattern of companies being incorporated and investing in high-value real estate properties.
In this two-part series, we found the latest two companies in Leyte — Romualdez's province — that fit into this same pattern. They are the fifth and sixth such entities that Rappler has discovered, which acquired or invested in the fourth and fifth real estate properties.
Two other real estate properties were acquired in the same manner, independent journalist Natashya Gutierrez, formerly with Rappler, also discovered. All in all, we have identified seven companies and seven properties.
This is part of Rappler's broader investigation into the lifestyle of personalities tagged in the flood control scam. Formal charges have not been filed against Romualdez.
"If I were truly involved in a fraudulent scheme of this nature…. you would have seen it in Tacloban," said Leyte 1st District Representative Martin Romualdez in a video he posted on April 21.
It marked the first time that Romualdez addressed at length the accusations against him. He remained low-key when former marine Orly Guteza claimed he delivered millions of pesos to his home, and still kept his written statements brief when resigned congressman, and now fugitive Zaldy Co, accused him of being the mastermind of the flood control scam.
But when the Office of the Ombudsman sought to prevent him from traveling abroad, Romualdez uploaded a 14-minute video with an ominous threat: "If this is a political play to push me out and close the story, tarnishing my name and my reputation, then I am telling everyone now, I will not go quietly and I will not go alone."
Romualdez said no one will find a substandard infrastructure project in his district, and more specifically, in his hometown of Tacloban.
The buzz in Tacloban, instead, is this: that "FM" or Ferdinand Martin, Romualdez's full name, supposedly now also "owns" the San Juanico golf course.
Rappler's investigation has found that people connected to Romualdez incorporated a different golf course company in mid-2025. Its address is identical to that of the San Juanico golf course, indicating a possible partnership of sorts.
The company's lawyer told Rappler they have no connection to either Romualdez or the San Juanico golf course, but our findings indicate otherwise.
The entire San Juanico golf course property is an expanse of 40,000 square meters, with half covering "open spaces, roads, parks, playground, and community facility," while the other half is a "saleable area," according to the Environmental Compliance Certificate granted to the golf course in 2011.
Rappler sent a letter with questions for Romualdez through his lawyer Abdiel Dan Fajardo on April 22, which the lawyer acknowledged receiving. We followed up again on April 28, but Fajardo said there was still no response from Romualdez. We will update this story once we receive a response.
The San Juanico golf course has been owned for a long time by the corporation San Juanico Park Golf and Country Club, owned by the family of the late former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) secretary Victor A. Domingo.
During the pandemic, the company reported financial difficulties and said in its 2020 financial statement that it "was actively looking for joint ventures or investors."
After the pandemic, the San Juanico Park Golf and Country Club became more active, attracting celebrities like Daniel Padilla. Padilla was actually the guest player of the very first Speaker Romualdez Invitational Cup held at the San Juanico golf course in 2023.
The golf course would mount more tournaments named after other Romualdezes — the Mayor Alfred Romualdez Golf Cup Tournament in June 2024 and the Kokoy Romualdez Memorial Golf Cup in September 2025.
By the time the Kokoy Romualdez Cup was held in September 2025, the San Juanico golf course began featuring another logo in its promotional materials — the TGCC or the Tacloban Golf and Country Club.
TGCC's lawyer Joseph Martin de Guzman told Rappler in an email on April 29 that "with respect to the San Juanico golf course, the company has no investment in this property."
The TGCC's logo, however, was a consistent part of the San Juanico golf course branding throughout its future events.
The Tacloban Golf and Country Club
TGCC was incorporated in March 2025, bearing the same address as the San Juanico golf course — Cabalawan Hills, Barangay 97 — according to its incorporation papers filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
TGCC has seven stockholders — three of whom are also stockholders of the Palo Entertainment and Resorts Corp. (PERC) of the Tropics Hotel — while two others also have connections to Romualdez. Upon incorporation, they had a paid-up capital of P10 million.
Kwok Yam Ian Chan (24.9%), Ric Macabidang (24.9%), and Christine Marielle Corpin Nanquil (nominal), are incorporators of TGCC. They are also incorporators of PERC.
"The company and its incorporators have no connection with Congressman Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez. Any suggestion or implication of such association is erroneous and misleading," said TGCC's De Guzman.
Chan is a stockholder of Benguet Corporation, a mining company of the Romualdezes. Benguet Corp. has been named in many Presidential Commission on Good Government cases as the company of Romualdez's father, former Leyte governor and Marcos crony Benjamin "Kokoy" Romualdez, also the brother of former first lady Imelda Marcos. The Office of the Ombudsman also asserts in its investigation papers that Romualdez's "family owns Benguet Corporation."
As of 2025, one of Benguet Corp.'s majority owners is RYM Business Management Corp., which, as Rappler reported before, is named after Martin's wife Yedda Marie. Although their names do not appear on corporate papers, Romualdez has never refuted their widely-reported association with RYM. It is believed that RYM stands for Romualdez Yedda Marie.
Among RYM's business interests is Prime Media, the company that went into a partnership with ABS-CBN's Teleradyo DZMM through its subsidiary, Philippine Collective Media Corporation or PCMC. Macabidang, who owns 24.9% of TGCC, is PCMC's treasurer, as of the company's December 2025 GIS.
Christine Marielle Corpin, a nominal shareholder is connected to Romualdez through the Dr. V. Orestes Romualdez Educational Foundation (DVOREF). Corpin is listed as a faculty member of the family-run law school, whose chair is Romualdez's brother, Benjamin Philip, and whose dean before was Romualdez himself. Her uncle, Court of Appeals Justice Bautista G. Corpin, was DVOREF associate dean and was chosen by Romualdez to administer his oath when he was reelected in the 2025 midterm elections.
Another 25% shareholder is Augusto Antonio Serafica Jr. who, as of midyear 2025, is a listed stockholder of Bright Kindle Resources and Investments Inc. and Marcventures Holdings Inc., two companies with mining interests that have a documented history with RYM.
Two nominal shareholders are associated with Tingog Partylist — the Romualdezes' party — Glenn Capucion and Arra Charmaine Lacdo-o Del Castillo.
Capucion is the president of the Tingog party and is also a nominal shareholder of the Romualdez-linked PCMC as of 2025. Del Castillo was once referred to in a Facebook post of an event as a representative of Tingog. She is also a faculty member of DVOREF, and identified as a partner of the Eastern Visayas Law Center, a law office in Tacloban widely associated with Romualdez. Del Castillo also identified herself in her LinkedIn page as a consultant to the office of Romualdez in Congress.
"The fact that some of the incorporators hold positions in other companies referenced in your letter is not unusual. It is common for corporations to have overlapping directors and/or officers, and there is nothing improper in such arrangements," said TGCC's De Guzman.
Rappler was able to speak on the phone personally with Macabidang, and staff of Corpin, to alert them about our emailed letters. We also reached out to Tingog Partylist's House offices, and personnel there advised us to resend the letter to a Tingog email address, which we did on April 28. We still have not received any response from the said stockholders. We will update this story once we get a response.
What's TGCC doing in San Juanico golf course?
We visited the San Juanico golf course in February to check for signs that TGCC is now its new owner or manager. Receipts still retained the San Juanico branding, and no business permit bearing TGCC was displayed.
We have also verified that the San Juanico Park Golf and Country Club has an existing business permit with City Hall. Its 2011 ECC is still the one on file with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Environmental Management Bureau.
Searches for a business permit and ECC for TGCC yielded no results, even as it is an existing corporation with the SEC.
Inside the San Juanico golf course, however, is a big tarpaulin that displays the TGCC logo, similar to what is seen in promotional materials. When we were there in February, some staff members were wearing uniforms that bore the logos of both the San Juanico golf course and Tingog Partylist.
Inside, they were giving out fliers for a "stay and play" promo with the Tropics Hotel.
TGCC Logo Inside the San Juanico Golf Course, where the tarpaulin shows the TGCC logo. Photo by Rappler.
Connections to Upsilon lawyers
The people who processed TGCC's paperwork with the SEC were a lawyer and a legal assistant from the firm OmLaw or Ocampo, Manalo, Valdez, and Lim, according to its incorporation papers. The founding partner of OmLaw is Manolito Manalo who used to be chairman of Prime Media. Manalo is also Upsilonian like Romualdez.
But in January 2026, witnesses during the Senate investigation into the flood control scam said OmLaw was the law firm that served an eviction notice to the previous owner of the Forbes mansion. After OmLaw was mentioned in the Senate, Manalo resigned as chairman of Prime Media.
Just how TGCC is involved is unclear because the golf course retained its branding as the San Juanico golf course. Rappler also tried to reach out to the San Juanico golf course via emails and calls. We were able to speak on April 24 with a staff member who was unable to confirm if our letter had been seen by company authorities, and was unable to give us additional contact information. Our subsequent calls did not go through.
But the fact remains that there exists a company called TGCC with a P10-million paid-up capital. The company has not yet filed its General Information Sheet or financial statement for 2025, because those are due in May of the following fiscal year, or May 2026.
In the Ombudsman's investigation into Romualdez for possible money laundering, they were still only focused on one person, one company, one property: the P1.67-billion Forbes house purchased by the company Golden Pheasant of Upsilonian lawyer Jose Raulito Paras, as Rappler reported in January 2026.
In the Forbes house, the Ombudsman said they see indications of "corporate layering and nominee arrangements to conceal their true nature, source, and ownership, thereby satisfying the third element of money laundering."
Rappler showed these Leyte companies to a lawyer with extensive experience in litigating corruption cases. The lawyer said: "These patterns of property holdings constitute a big red flag, because this is how ill-gotten wealth is usually concealed. But making a case that can stand in court is a different ball game."
The tall challenge for prosecutors, should they pursue more of these companies, is overcoming the legal cover of corporations. Corporations have different juridical entities than people.
"Fraud can pierce through the legal fictions and confidentialities, but fraud is a matter of proof. That's really the hard part," the lawyer said. – with reports from Lance Ariel Bustos/Rappler.com
Lance Ariel Bustos is a Rappler intern. He is a third year Political Science student at De La Salle University-Manila, and is the Intermedia editor of The LaSallian.
Visualizations by Don Kevin Hapal, Nico Villarete, and Raphael Reyes
