'Lavish dinner' host is chief fund raiser of Arroyo party

He was a smooth operator and one of the lowest-profile congressmen, never one to grandstand but he apparently got things done through quiet conversation and cajoling. But the patina of privacy that Rep. Martin Romualdez had maintained around his budding legislative career was punctured last August when the media feasted on revelations that while democracy icon Cory Aquino was lying in wake, he hosted the now-notorious one-million-peso New York dinner for President Gloria Arroyo and her entourage. That strongly hinted at the first-term lawmaker's rising political influence and his closeness to the Arroyos. (His office later released a statement that his older brother Daniel, a prominent New York architect, had actually paid for the dinner.) As 2010 approaches, the 46-year-old Romualdez, the youngest son of Imelda Marcos' younger brother Benjamin, has been entrusted with one of the most sensitive and secretive roles in the administration party's 2010 campaign as "Senior Vice President for Finance," or chief fund raiser. Campaign finance is a key electoral battlefield dotted by legal landmines and potential scandals. Allegations that the Arroyo 2004 presidential campaign made use of government fertilizer funds still hound the administration to this day. "We'll just go through the traditional process," Romualdez said in a phone interview with GMANews.TV when asked how he intends to create the campaign war chest. He added that the party will source funds from "people who want to support the party." Asked about concerns that government funds would be used to fuel the party's campaign, Romualdez said, "That's not a part of business." "Don't worry about that, di tayo ganun (we are not like that)," he said. "We have enough." At the very least, his role will require him to be discreet while meeting specific objectives, which is already a proven quality. Rep. Martin Romualdez used his birthday party last year to convince key colleagues to sign a draft resolution that eventually became the controversial House Resolution 1109, which allowed the House to convene a constituent assembly to change the Constitution even without the Senate. That move, which eventually proved to be futile, was seen as part of a plan to extend President Gloria Arroyo's stay in power. Martin's rise can be seen as the tail-end of a Marcos-Romualdez political comeback. His cousins, Bongbong and Imee, have long been elected public officials. His other brother, Philip, has been an active leader of the mining industry and is married to Sandy Prieto, a scion of the Prieto family that owns the Philippine Daily Inquirer. Arroyo herself had intervened to create the political deal in Leyte that enabled Romualdez to run unopposed by another powerful Leyte family, the Petillas. Since then, the first-term congressman has been a close ally of the Arroyo sons in Congress, Dato and Mikey. Romualdez was among the select few invited to join Arroyo's official visit last July and August to Washington DC and New York. As chief fund raiser for the administration coalition party, Romualdez could ensure a plum position for himself in the next administration if standard-bearer Gibo Teodoro wins. According to the Lakas-Kampi’s Constitution, Romualdez – as the SVP for Finance – “shall serve as the chief fund-raiser of the Party and shall ensure that the Party’s plans, programs, and projects are successfully implemented through sufficient funding." Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA) Chairman Prospero Pichay, who serves as the party's vice president for members and recruitment, said Romualdez will coordinate their fund-raising activities. "There's a lot of fundraisers, from the business sector and the private sector. Maraming marami yan, and one of them is of course Martin Romualdez," Pichay told GMANews.TV after the party's national convention last November 19. "He (Romualdez) will coordinate also the various fund raisers," added Pichay. Presidential political adviser Gabriel Claudio, who is also Lakas-Kampi’s secretary-general, said part of Romualdez's job is to raise funds for the campaigns of all of the party’s 2010 bets. “As far as the machinery is concerned, kasama na diyan ang (included in that is) fund-raising, but in accordance with the law," Claudio told GMANews.TV in a phone interview. The second richest congressman Before being tasked with raising funds for others, Romualdez proved his ability to create wealth for himself, which is reflected in his official status as the nation's second richest congressman, according to a comparison of statements of assets and liabilities (SALN). The richest is Cynthia Villar of Las Pinas, the wife of presidential aspirant Manuel Villar. According to the summary of the 2008 Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN) of the House of Representatives, Lakas-Kampi’s chief finance officer has a net worth of P477.2 million. His 2008 SALN shows that the legislator derives most of his net income from stocks. Last year, he declared a total of P378.9 million worth of investments in various companies in the country. Romualdez also declared that he is a stockholder in 14 different corporations. His involvement in business ranges from the country’s largest trustee bank to several mining corporations around the country. Romualdez also has shares in various real estate corporations and even in a food corporation that produces meat and poultry products. The Leyte representative also owns a house and lot in the United States – specifically in Dover, Massachusetts, which costs $1.5 million or more than P71 million - and two real estate properties in the Philippines: a piece of land in Mabalacat, Pampanga with a current market value of roughly a million pesos, and a P15-million house and lot in Banilad, Cebu City. Marcos legacy Romualdez is the son of former Leyte governor and ambassador to the United States, Benjamin “Kokoy" Romualdez, the younger brother of former First Lady Imelda Marcos. At the height of Martial Law, Kokoy was regarded as among the most powerful associates of strongman Ferdinand Marcos. While none of the Marcoses appear on the list, including Imelda, Martin's father Kokoy is still recognized by Forbes as the 30th richest man in the Philippines, with a net worth of $70 million or more than P3.3 billion. When Kokoy and his family, together with the Marcoses, fled the country in 1986 in the wake of the EDSA People Power revolution, the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) listed at least 61 corporations where the Marcos crony was said to have acquired shares illegally. Among these firms are Benguet Corporation, First Philippine Holdings, Mantrade Development Corporation, Meralco, Meralco Foundation Inc., Philippine Commercial and International (PCI) Bank, Philtranco Service Enterprise, and Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corporation. Despite the efforts of the PCGG to sequester these shares and companies, the Romualdez family still controls some of the supposed illegally acquired stocks. The family-owned Trans Middle East Philippines Equities, Inc. is the sixth largest stockholder in Banco De Oro Unibank, Inc. (formerly Equitable-PCI). Palm Avenue Holdings, another Romualdez company, is the second largest stockholder in Benguet Corporation. Martin is listed as a stockholder in both BDO and Benguet Corp. In addition to the supposed ill-gotten wealth, the Marcos-Romualdez clan also holds more than P1 billion in public funds through six family members – including Martin – who currently hold national and local posts. Based on the 2007 Priority Development Assistance Fund and Internal Revenue Allotment figures, the Marcos-Romualdez clan is the eighth political family in the country that wields the most power over billions of public funds. A rising politician Like many of his colleagues in the lower house, Rep. Romualdez comes from a long line of political leaders. His grandfather Daniel was the House Speaker from 1957 to 1962. Daniel’s father Miguel served as an assemblyman in Leyte and mayor of the city of Manila. His cousin Ferdinand “Bong-Bong" Marcos Jr. is currently the representative for the second district of Ilocos Norte, and has announced his plan to run for the Senate in 2010. Despite this lineage, Romualdez is known for keeping a low profile in the media, often turning down requests for face-to-face or telephone interviews. However, this did not stop him from gaining friends in the right places – something which a congressman who refused to be named just attributed to the “friendly" personality of Romualdez. Among his close friends are the children of Mrs. Arroyo, Camarines Sur Rep. Diosdado “Dato" Macapagal Arroyo and Pampanga Rep. Juan Miguel “Mikey" Arroyo. Both Romualdez and Dato are on their first term in Congress, as members of the Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino (Kampi). Meanwhile, Romualdez teamed up with Mikey in pushing for the controversial move to amend the constitution through a Senate-less constitutional assembly. “Kung ano yung gusto nila (Arroyo family), tumutulong siya mag-implement (He helps implement what they want)," he said. The source also said the closeness of Romualdez to the Arroyo sons is evident in the “easy" manner by which he is able to receive pork barrel funds for his projects. The neophyte lawmaker’s official website says he was able to utilize almost the entire P70-million pork barrel allotted to each House member just six months after he assumed office. But this personal relationship may very well be attributed to Romualdez’s debt of gratitude to Mrs. Arroyo. According to former Leyte congressman and presidential chief legal counsel Sergio Apostol, what secured the House seat for Romualdez was the agreement between his family and the Petillas – another influential political family in Leyte. “The agreement was the Petillas won’t put a candidate for congressman and the Romualdezes won’t put a candidate for governor," Apostol told GMANews.TV. As a result, incumbent Leyte Governor Jericho Petilla ran unchallenged by the Romualdezes in 2007. In return, his mother former congresswoman Remedios “Matin" Petilla gave way to the candidacy of Martin as Leyte representative. The former lawmaker said he did not know who arranged the agreement. But a statement from the website of Romualdez categorically stated that it was Malacañang that intervened to get him the candidacy. - with a report from Johanna Camille Sisante/YA, HS, GMANews.TV Photos from www.martinromualdez.com