Personnel from Cardinal Santos Medical Center arrive at the Sandiganbayan in Quezon City on Thursday, September 10, 2026, as court proceedings are set to take place. Former House Speaker Martin Romualdez, who faces a plunder charge before the court, is confined in the hospital. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News MANILA — House Speaker Martin Romualdez's medical condition is serious but did not warrant hospital admission last Monday, doctors told the Sandiganbayan in a hearing Thursday on the Leyte congressman's health.
Romualdez is under guard at the Cardinal Santos Medical Center in San Juan City pending medical clearance for transfer to the Quezon City Jail in Payatas.
He faces a plunder case related to alleged corruption in flood-control projects.
CHEST PAIN
Dr. Rosalio Torres, the team manager of Cardinal Santos Medical Center, testified that a hopsital staff called him on Monday morning and told him the former House speaker was complaining of chest pain.
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Torres said he advised hospital staff that Romualdez be confined after Dr. Rody Sy, the hospital’s cardiologist, told him the congressman should be admitted and evaluated as he was considered at high risk a cardiovascular complication.
He said Romualdez was confined around 4 p.m., or around six hours later.
The Office of the Ombudsman had filed the plunder case against Romualdez that day, with the Sandiganbayan issuing an arrest warrant by late afternoon.
"I thought it was urgent? Why [did it take] you so long to confine him?" Associate Justice Ronald Moreno asked.
Torres said Romualdez "wanted his advice".
The doctor had formed the team of specialists that addressed the congressman's health concerns.
Romualdez was an inpatient under their care last July, when he went through routine blood examination, thyroid function tests, electrocardiogram, and stress test, said Torres.
“He was complaining [of] some weight loss and excessive sweating at this point," he said.
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TRANSFER RISKY
When asked by Associate Justice Karl Miranda if transferring Romualdez to another hospital could pose a risk, Torres answered in the affirmative.
He said Romualdez is considered at high risk of heart attack and transferring him could compromise the critical "golden hour" — the window of time immediately after a symptiom when medical intervention is essential to prevent permanent heart muscle damage or death.
Asked if there is an absolute necessity for Romualdez to be monitored all day outside of the intensive care unit, Torres said that would be up to cardiologist Sy's recommendations.
When Moreno asked Dr. Kurt Allen Sibayan, the hospital’s admitting doctor, if Romualdez’s condition was an emergency that justified his admission at the hospital, Sibayan answered in the negative.
He also said Torres kept him from seeing Romualdez in his room. Asked why he did that, Torres said the nature of Sibayan’s work required him to attend to other patients.
"Sumusunod lang ako doon sa attending physician (I merely followed what the attending physician said)," Sibayan said of the medical abstract he wrote.
According to the medical abstract, Romualdez was admitted to the hospital due to the following conditions:
- Hypertensive Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease
- Unstable Angina, Coronary Artery Disease
- Post Percutaneous Coronary Intervention
- Cerebrovascular Ischemic Disease
- Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus
- Hypertension
- Dyslipidemia
- Primary Hypothyroidism
Sibayan, responding to questions from the prosecution, acknowledged patients are usually not admitted without an initial examination.
The prosecution then asked the court to allow independent government doctors to check on Romualdez’s health condition.
It also said it opposes Romualdez’s motion for continued confinement at the Cardinal Santos Medical Center, and asked that the congressman be detained at a Bureau of Jail Management and Penology facility.
The court said the cross-examination of Romualdez’s doctors, including his neurologist and psychiatrist, will be continued on Friday.
It also set the arraignment and pretrial on September 14.
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