MANILA: The speaker of the Philippine House of Representatives tendered his resignation on Wednesday (Sep 17) after his name surfaced in a mounting corruption scandal, less than two weeks after the country’s Senate president suffered the same fate.
Martin Romualdez, a cousin of President Ferdinand Marcos, told lawmakers he was leaving the post with a “clear conscience” so that a newly established investigatory body could do its job without “undue influence”.
Public anger over so-called ghost infrastructure projects has been intensifying since Marcos put them centre stage in a July state of the nation address that followed weeks of deadly flooding.
Thousands are expected to turn out in the capital Manila on Sunday for a “Trillion Peso March”, named for a Greenpeace estimate of funds allegedly bilked from climate-related projects since 2023.
“The issues surrounding certain infrastructure projects have raised questions that weigh not only upon me, but upon this institution we all serve,” Romualdez said Wednesday at the House of Representatives.
“The longer I stay, the heavier that burden grows,” he said, before formally tendering his resignation.
Last week, the owners of a construction firm accused nearly 30 House members and Department of Public Works and Highways officials of taking cash payments.
