Marcos’ cousin faces plunder charges in Philippine corruption scandal
The government also auctioned off luxury vehicles linked to corruption in flood infrastructure in a bid to recover stolen public funds
Plunder, corruption and bribery charges were recommended against Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr’s cousin for his alleged involvement in a corruption scandal.
The Department of Public Works and Highways sought these charges against former House speaker Martin Romualdez during a filing at the Office of the Ombudsman on Friday.
The same charges were also recommended for resigned lawmaker Zaldy Co, who was formerly head of the House of Representatives’ appropriations committee. Romualdez and Co have previously denied the allegations.
Marcos first exposed the misuse of state funds in July and vowed to root out corruption that involved state money meant to mitigate flooding in one of the world’s disaster-prone nations. The corruption scandal has angered the public and soured investor sentiment, dragging the economy to its slowest growth in four years.
Philippine church group protests against flood-control corruption scandal
Meanwhile, the Philippines on Thursday auctioned off seven luxury vehicles linked to the corruption scandal, as the government pushes to recover stolen public funds.