Ex-Co Aide: P1 Billion Brought To Romualdez’s House

A former bodyguard of Zaldy Co told the Sandiganbayan that 100 suitcases containing P1 billion in cash were delivered from 2023 to 2024 to the home of former House speaker Martin Romualdez.

Rodante Orbillo, former security aide of Co, also told the anti-graft court on Thursday, Oct. 15, that he rejected an offer of P15 million to P20 million to drop his testimony against Romualdez.

Orbillo testified at the hearing on Romualdez’s petition for bail in his P7.4-billion plunder case.

Testifying as a prosecution witness, the former Marine said the suitcases of cash were brought from Co’s units at Horizon Homes in BGC Taguig and Valle Verde 6 in Pasig City to Romualdez’s residence in Forbes Park, Makati.

Orbillo said he took part in more than 10 of the deliveries.

Asked by the prosecution panel how he was able to determine that the delivery destination was Romualdez’s house, Orbillo said he saw the lawmaker’s personal driver at the house.

He also said he knew the smell of newly withdrawn cash, because they counted the bills before delivering these to Romualdez’s residence.

“The money was in the suitcases, already bundled. You can smell new money. I am disgusted by the smell,” Orbillo told the court. He added that he had also delivered money to Romualdez in three other properties linked to the lawmaker.

Orbillo also testified that he delivered alleged kickbacks to Sen. Vicente Sotto III, former senator Antonio Trillanes IV and former Marikina Rep. Stella Quimbo from 2022 to 2024. Both Trillanes and Sotto denied Orbillo’s allegations.

During questioning by Sandiganbayan Associate Justice Ronald Moreno, Orbillo said he was offered as high as P20 million for his recantation but he turned down the offer.

He also claimed that the alleged second-in-command of Co’s bodyguards Col. William Dominguez promised them P3 million each in exchange for their silence. The amount was later reduced to P1 million, then to P300,000, Orbillo said. But he stressed this was not the reason why he testified against Co.

He then showed purported text messages between him and former bodyguard Benny Bulontate, who allegedly urged him to join them in recanting their testimonies. Orbillo said that Bulontante accepted the offer of money to recant, but he could not say how much it was.

Asked by Moreno why he turned down the offer of money, Orbillo said he wanted to tell the truth, having himself been falsely accused of frustrated murder in the past, which was later dismissed. – With Delon Porcalla