Leyte properties linked to Martin Romualdez: The Tropics Hotel

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On April 8, 2024, the Oriental Hotel in Palo, Leyte announced that it was closing after 12 years. The announcement was curious. The management said "we would like to maintain the privacy of the reason for this closure."

By the end of that year, the vast property by the ocean near the landing site of General Douglas MacArthur, showed signs of activity again. A new hotel called "Tropics" had a soft opening. On Facebook, one commenter asked, "Is this owned by the speaker of the HoR [House of Representatives]?"

Rappler's investigation revealed that Tropics Hotel is owned by a company whose shareholders are businessmen and lawyers connected to Leyte 1st District Representative Martin Romualdez, who at the time, was House speaker. The property spans 43,516 square meters.

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.

How 'Oriental Leyte' became 'Tropics'

The Oriental Leyte is part of a chain of Oriental hotels owned by the family of former Agri Partylist Representative Wilbert Lee. Their company, called the LKY Property Holdings Inc. (LKY), acquired the property in 2009 through a contract of lease with the provincial government of Leyte.

It used to be known as the MacArthur Park Beach Resort, widely associated by residents with the former first lady Imelda Marcos, Romualdez's aunt. Imelda is the sister of Romualdez's father, former Leyte governor and Marcos crony, Benjamin "Kokoy" Romualdez.

It was one of the sequestered Marcos properties after the People Power revolution in 1986, and was put under the care of the national government through the Philippine Tourism Authority, now known as TIEZA or Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority.

In 2008, former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo transferred the property to the provincial government of Leyte, which then leased it to LKY so the private company could renovate and develop it.

The LKY-owned Oriental Leyte operated for 12 years. When it announced its closure in April 2024, a new company had already entered the picture.

The Palo Entertainment Resort Corp. (PERC) incorporated in February 2024 with a P50-million paid-up capital, and with five stockholders, two of them nominal. By March 2024, LKY and PERC had already entered into a deed of sale with assignment of lease, so that PERC could begin to take over.

Who's behind PERC

The stockholders of PERC, and who still remain stockholders as of their latest General Information Sheet (GIS) in 2025, are: Kwok Yam Ian Chan, Justin Joseph Ng Po, Edgar Dennis Ampig Padernal, Christine Marielle Codero Corpin, and Ric Felices Macabidang. This is according to their filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

All five of them belong to an interlocking map of stockholders and directors connected to Romualdez's mining, media, and law school groups.

PERC's lawyers told Rappler through a letter on April 29: "These circumstances do not, in any manner, establish any connection with Congressman Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez."

Chan, who still owns 40% of PERC as of 2025, is a stockholder of Benguet Corporation, a mining company of the Romualdezes dating as far back as the time of Kokoy Romualdez, according to several cases filed by the Presidential Commission on Good Government.

The Ombudsman's investigation papers also assert that Romualdez's "family owns Benguet Corporation," according to the complaint-affidavit that the Ombudsman submitted to the Sandiganbayan to request for the PHDO.

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 partnership with ABS-CBN's Teleradyo DZMM through its subsidiary Philippine Collective Media Corporation or PCMC.

PERC's nominal shareholder Macabidang is PCMC's treasurer, according to the company's December 2025 GIS.

Edgar Padernal, who owns 20% of PERC, is a co-founder of the law firm Andres, Padernal, and Paras or APP Law. The law office became Padernal and Paras in 2022, when its co-founder Jesse Andres left, and became justice undersecretary of the Marcos administration. He was later appointed deputy executive secretary for legal affairs (DESLA) in Malacañang. Padernal also served on the board of Benguet Corp.

The Paras in the Padernal and Paras law office is Jose Raulito Paras, an Upsilonian lawyer like Romualdez, who figures more prominently in this pattern of companies. He is the person behind the company that purchased a P1.67-billion house in Forbes Park. Rappler reported that purchase in January.

This property and the Paras company, Golden Pheasant Holdings Corporation, are now part of the Ombudsman's grounds to investigate both Paras and Romualdez for alleged money laundering.

The Office of the Ombudsman also found that the donation to Harvard University in 2023, previously attributed to Romualdez, can actually be traced back to Paras, "thereby showing a glaring linkage between Romualdez and Paras," says the complaint-affidavit forwarded to the Sandiganbayan.

The address of the Padernal and Paras law office was used to register an overseas firm that bought a multi-million-euro posh estate in Spain, which Rappler also investigated. In 2024, Paras also became the treasurer of a company that owns a luxurious villa in the exclusive Amanpulo island, according to an investigation of journalist Natashya Gutierrez.

Christine Marielle Cordero Corpin, a nominal shareholder, is a lawyer from Tacloban who taught at the Romualdez family-run law school — the Dr. V. Orestes Romualdez Educational Foundation (DVOREF) — where Romualdez once served as dean, according to a 2022 faculty list of the school. Corpin is also a partner of the Eastern Visayas Law Center run by the same people behind DVOREF. DVOREF's chairman is Romualdez's brother Benjamin Philip.

Corpin also owns a construction company with hundreds of millions' worth of DPWH projects. The company, which her father put up in 2019, was co-founded by her uncle Bautista Corpin Jr., who was appointed Court of Appeals justice in 2020.

The company, now renamed A2C Enterprises Inc., no longer lists Justice Corpin as shareholder. Justice Corpin, who used to be DVOREF's associate dean, administered Romualdez's oath as newly-elected Leyte representative after the 2025 midterm elections.

Po, the other majority shareholder who owns 40% of the company, as of the latest filing, is involved in a water business with Paras, Corpin, and Macabidang. The water company, called Crystal 8 Inc., was also registered only in July 2024 with a P100-million paid-up capital, according to its February 2026 GIS.

The capital was mainly put up by Paras and Po, each contributing P40 million, with the P20 million sourced from another businessman. Corpin and Macabidang are again nominal shareholders in Crystal 8 Inc.

"As established and reputable businessmen and professionals, it is neither unusual nor improper for our clients to hold positions in multiple corporations. Similarly, the presence of common shareholders and directors across corporate entities is a standard and lawful business practice," said PERC's lawyers in their letter to Rappler.

"Any attempt to associate our clients with Congressman Romualdez, or with matters reportedly under investigation before the Office of the Ombudsman, is without factual basis and risks causing unwarranted harm to their reputations," said PERC's lawyers.

Rappler was able to speak on the phone on April 22 with PERC's stockholder and corporate secretary, Ric Macabidang, who confirmed receiving our email. Rappler also called the Padernal and Paras law office and spoke to a staff member to alert them about our emailed letter. We were also able to contact Corpin's SEC-listed numbers, but a staff member picked up the phone and said she was in a meeting. None have responded to our queries. We will update this story once we receive a response.

Big investments, quick

Rappler spoke with two lawyers who have extensive experience litigating anti-corruption cases. One of them 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 other said that a money laundering investigation would require having a surgical look into the companies to see if they acquired real estate properties that are beyond their financial capacity.

An external auditor whom Rappler spoke with looked at the SEC papers of PERC and noticed some "mismatch" in their financials.

First of all, PERC only had a P50-million paid-up capital in February 2024, yet when they filed their financial statement at the end of that year, they already had acquired assets worth P798 million.

In three different documents the company filed with the SEC, it declared different amounts of capitalization. In incorporation papers filed in February 2024, it declared paid-up capital of P50 million. In its December 2024 financial statement, however, it listed P400 million (including additional paid-in capital), which company lawyers explained as being due to paid premiums. In PERC's 2025 GIS, it declared total paid-up capital of P133.33 million.

"That's a mismatch," said the external auditor, and such mismatch is "not a common mistake" because filings are reviewed both by the accountant and auditor.

By the end of 2024, because of its high-value investments, even if they accounted for their earnings, PERC still incurred a P391-million liability, their 2024 audited financial statement showed.

The external auditor Rappler spoke with questioned PERC's investment of P798 million in assets if it had only P400 million in capital. Furthermore, it made a "goodwill" investment of P251 million, which the external auditor found "unusual," considering that it was just buying the hotel and not the LKY company itself.

A goodwill investment is typically an amount that a buyer pays a seller to recognize brand value.

PERC has not yet filed its 2025 financial statement, as of last checking with the SEC. Companies usually file around May of the next fiscal year.

The Tropics Hotel has since hosted big events, including several government functions. In July 2025, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Romualdez's first cousin, launched Phases 2 and 3 of the National Fiber Backbone (NFB) program there.

Around the same time, in mid-2025, a new company was coming to life, too. From the hotel business, this company with common stockholders would be engaged in the golf course business. (To be concluded) – Rappler.com/with reports from Lance Ariel Bustos

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