Orly Guteza, 4 Other Men Recants Testimony vs. Former Speaker Martin Romualdez over Alleged Corruption
MARTIN ROMUALDEZ – Four other men have recanted their accusations against the former House Speaker aside from Orly Guteza.
Several officials of the government were implicated in the supposed multi-billion flood control corruption in the Philippines. Most of them are congressmen and officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
However, there are also key officials in the government who are faced with flood control corruption accusations. One of them is former House Speaker Martin Romualdez who stepped down from the House speakership when the flood control allegations against him sparked.
Former House Budget Appropriations Committee chairman Zaldy Co accused Romualdez and President Bongbong Marcos of allegedly receiving kickbacks. Co is faced with a lot of accusations and is allegedly one of the biggest role players in the supposed multi-billion corruption.
Zaldy Co was already out of the country when the flood control issue started taking national attention. Aside from Co, several men who claimed to his former aide also testified in the flood control investigations.
Orly Guteza, a former marine and a former aide of Zaldy Co, is one of those who testified during the Senate flood control investigation. He was the surprise witness presented by Senator Rodante Marcoleta.
Guteza claimed in September 2025 that he was allegedly part of the team that delivered suitcases filled with cash for former House Speaker Martin Romualdez. Marcoleta tagged the former Marine as supposedly the “most credit witness ever”.
Recently, Orly Guteza recanted his testimony against former House Speaker Martin Romualdez. Based on a report on GMA News, aside from Guteza, 4 other men also recanted their testimonies against Romualdez.
“We just want to recant… We’re taking back our previous statement. We just want to live quietly. We are facing cases and threats to our lives,” one of the four (4) men said in Filipino as per another report of the same source.
According to the accusers of former House Speaker Martin Romualdez, they were allegedly promised financial assistance when they signed their previous affidavit against the former Speaker. It was allegedly promised in exchange of a joint affidavit.
“There was a promise made. For financial assistance, for instance. They said we can afford not to work for two years. Then there would be security for our families,” one of them claimed.
Based on the report, for his part, Orly Guteza claimed that fear allegedly forced him to make the accusations against Romualdez. He denied having a direct contact with the former House Speaker nor even just seeing him.
While he withdrew his accusations against former House Speaker Martin Romualdez, Orly Guteza claimed that Sen. Rodante Marcoleta and former House lawmaker Mike Defensor are allegedly behind his testimony against the former Speaker. Both are currently detained.
