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First of two parts
A multi-million-euro mansion in Sotogrande, one of Spain’s most exclusive residential communities, was purchased in January 2024 through a corporation linked to individuals closely identified with Leyte Representative and then-speaker Martin Romualdez.
A trail of official documents lists the names of Romualdez’s several fraternity brothers and business associates, including one figure previously mentioned in international media reports as having links to questionable transactions in Sri Lanka and Malaysia.
Rappler was tipped off in October 2025 by at least two sources about this property. One said the deal was brokered by a real estate executive who is a member of a prominent Filipino family with ties to Romualdez and his cousin, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
The use of a newly-formed, closely-linked corporation in a major US property mirrors similar transactions made in the past. In July 2025, Romualdez transferred for just $1 a $2.44-million Massachusetts estate to a corporation led by a longtime business associate involved in his companies and fraternity.
A lawyer with long-term experience investigating international financial crimes and corruption told Rappler that companies or individuals are often used “to further distance the ownership [of the property] from the politician.”
These are called straw persons — fronts used to conceal a property’s true beneficial owner and obscure links to alleged officials wishing to hide something, including possible corruption.
Rappler reached out to Romualdez to ask about the Sotogrande property, but has yet to receive a response. We first sent questions via email to his office at the House of Representatives and his official Facebook page on December 16, and followed up from December 17-20, and again on December 22, 23, and 29, and January 12.
We also sent Viber messages to his two known numbers on December 16 and followed up from December 17-20, and December 22, 23, and 29, and on January 12. The messaging app showed that he had seen these messages. Rappler will update this story once we receive a response.
The property deals are now under closer watch as Romualdez becomes a central figure in the controversy over the 2025 budget and flood control funds. Romualdez, who played a key role in the presidential campaign of his cousin Bongbong in 2022, was forced to step down in September 2025 as House speaker at the height of the flood control scandal.
Resigned Ako Bicol representative Zaldy Co, who was Romualdez’s sparring partner in the House and now a fugitive, has also accused him and Marcos of receiving kickbacks, claiming that P56 billion was funneled to them between 2022 and 2025, on top of an alleged P100-billion budget insertion.
In November 2025, the Independent Commission for Infrastructure and the Department of Public Works and Highways recommended that the Ombudsman file plunder, graft, and bribery complaints against Romualdez. There have been no major developments since.
LAVISH. A mult-million-dollar house (middle) in Sotogrande, Spain bought by a company with links to Martin Romualdez. Screenshot from Google EarthExclusive Sotogrande property
Known as Villa Kabila, the property is a 2,019-square-meter residence with at least 16 bedrooms and a large swimming pool. It spans two adjoining lots totaling 3,976 square meters in Sotogrande, an affluent resort-style enclave in the province of Cádiz, Spain.
Property prices in the area reflect exclusivity, with the average lot costing upwards of 2 million euros (P139 million).
EXPENSIVE. A screenshot of a 2023 property listing on Instagram showing the selling price (highlight by Rappler). Villa Kabila commands a significantly higher price. Real estate listings from 2021 and 2023 indicate that it was being offered for between 6.5 million and 6.9 million euros (P444.5 million to P471.8 million).
The nota simple, an official record of property ownership in Spain, shows that Villa Kabila was bought on January 30, 2024, by CECIL PROPERTY PTE LTD. Corporate records in Singapore indicate that this company was incorporated only on January 10, 2024, or just days before the sale was completed.
PROPERTY. Screenshot and translation of property documents. Companies are sometimes used for property ownerships for practical reasons, such as lower tax payments. The mere fact that a property is owned by a company is not, by itself, a red flag.
But two lawyers told Rappler that a company being set up just a few days before a purchase raises suspicions. One said that it shows that “the sole purpose of the company is to hold that property and it has no other business operations.”
Similar modus in US property?
The use of newly-formed or closely-linked corporations in multimillion-peso property deals calls to mind another Romualdez transaction involving a US estate he owned for decades.
In July 2025, the former House speaker transferred a $2.44-million (P130.5-million) property in Dover, Massachusetts, to a corporation named AMMY INC. for only $1, according to documents obtained by Rappler.
AMMY INC. itself exhibited several characteristics that parallel the setup surrounding Villa Kabila’s acquisition. The corporation was formed only in June 2024 in Delaware and registered in Massachusetts in May 2025, just weeks before the transfer.
Its listed president, lawyer Andrew Casiño, also has long-standing ties to Romualdez. These include serving on the board of Romualdez-owned companies and being identified as an Upsilon fraternity brother.
A source familiar with another property transaction told Rappler that a similar pattern had emerged in Manila. One house in Forbes Park was allegedly bought through Romualdez’s former law firm, OMLaw PH, which is headed by another Upsilon fraternity brother.
Lawyers tied to Romualdez
Like in the Philippines, Singapore requires companies to register their officials and directors. Rappler obtained corporate documents of CECIL PROPERTY PTE LTD, which reveal two individuals and a company closely associated with it.
SAME ADDRESS? An address in the registration papers in Singapore of CECIL PROPERTY matches the address of a law firm based in the Philippines.BRAAVOS HOLDINGS OPC is a one-person corporation registered in the Philippines in September 2023. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) documents show that its “single stockholder/director/president” is Jose Raulito E. Paras.
BRAAVOS is registered with an address in Salcedo Village, Makati City. It shares a location, down to the building and floor, with the law firm Padernal & Paras.
The firm’s LinkedIn page shows that it was once named APP Law, but it changed this name in 2022. Its website, which was live until early January, is now inaccessible and displays a notice saying it is under maintenance.
Before going offline, the site listed three lawyers with direct ties to Romualdez and his family-owned companies, with connections ranging from business dealings to long-standing links through Upsilon Sigma Phi.
Jose Raulito E. Paras, the tagged sole officer of BRAAVOS, is a senior partner at the firm. SEC filings show he served as treasurer of Romualdez’s Media Serbisyo Production Corporation, a broadcasting joint venture with ABS-CBN that launched in 2023.
Paras also sat on the board of Romualdez-owned Benguet Corporation from August 2018 to August 2023, resigning for “personal reasons and commitments,” according to disclosures with the Philippine Stock Exchange.
Senior partner Edgar Dennis Padernal, served on the boards of the Romualdez-owned Benguet Corporation and Bright Kindle Resources & Investment, just like Paras and Jesse Hermogenes T. Andres. He resigned in September 2020 from Benguet and in September 2024, from Bright Kindle.
Andres, meanwhile, left the firm in 2022, prior to the Spanish property transaction. He was, however, still listed on the firm’s website up until it went offline in early January 2026.
Andres served as undersecretary at the Department of Justice until December 2025. He was recently appointed deputy executive secretary for legal affairs at Malacañang. Before joining the Marcos administration, Andres was a director at Benguet Corporation starting August 2018 and also served on the board of Bright Kindle, from October 2020.
He resigned from both positions in June 2022 citing “personal reasons/other commitments, including his entry into government service.”
Paras and Andres are fraternity brothers of Romualdez in Upsilon Sigma Phi at the University of the Philippines. Paras joined in 1990 as an undergraduate, while Andres became a member in 1981 and rose to “vice-illustrious fellow” in 1987.
Romualdez joined Upsilon in 1985, meaning his membership overlapped with that of Andres for several years and later with Paras, continuing until his law school graduation in 1992.
Andres told Rappler on December 21 that he resigned and has no involvement in, nor knowledge about, the transactions of his former firm.
“I have no involvement whatsoever in the transactions you are investigating,” he said.
Rappler reached out to Paras and Padernal through email on December 19, 20, 22, and 29, and January 9 and 11. We will update this story once we receive a response.
ROMUALDEZ IN SOTOGRANDE. The Romualdez family is no stranger to the lavish Sotogrande enclave. Romualdez in Sotogrande
The link between Romualdez and the Sotogrande enclave is evident beyond the trail of lawyers.
His son, Ferdinand Martin “Marty” Romualdez Jr., has been identified as a polo player who frequently competed in Sotogrande events through the Calatagan Polo Club. An Instagram post noted his “high goal debut at Sotogrande” in July 2024.
Another post congratulating Marty Romualdez for his performance was geotagged at the Ayala Polo Club, just an 11-minute drive from the Villa Kabila property. The photo also included Iñigo Zobel, a known close friend of President Marcos.
Zobel’s daughter, Paola, runs the Ayala Polo Club and has long been associated with Sotogrande, having opened a restaurant in the area in 2013. A 2016 article about her wedding described her as being the “vice president of the family’s Sotogrande, touted as the largest and most luxurious residential development in Andalucia, Spain.”
Sotogrande was first developed in the 1960s by Filipino-American businessman Joseph McMicking, together with his wife, Mercedes. Mercedes is the aunt of the Zobel de Ayalas of Ayala Corporation.
Another daughter of Iñigo Zobel, Rocio, was romantically linked to Marty Romualdez. A Vanity Fair España profile of the younger Zobel published in 2020 said, “Rocío is now dating Martin Romualdez Junior, great-nephew of Imelda Marcos.” (To be concluded) – Rappler.com
NEXT: Part 2 | Malaysian shareholders emerge in Spanish estate linked to Romualdez
