An Open Letter to Former Speaker Martin Romualdez

By Dr. Tony Leachon 


First of all, I sincerely wish you well and pray for your recovery. Health is a gift, and as someone who has lived with coronary artery disease and undergone PTCA, I understand the gravity of unstable angina.

I trust your doctors are doing their utmost to provide the care you need so that fear and panic may be eased.

Yet illness, however serious, does not suspend accountability. Every patient eventually leaves the hospital to face life’s realities. And as a lawyer yourself, you know that justice cannot be indefinitely postponed.

The Ombudsman has opposed your motion for hospital detention following your arrest on a ₱7.4‑billion plunder charge.

This decision resonates with the public because the scars of the 2025 General Appropriations Act remain fresh. That budget, riddled with diversions and “unprogrammed appropriations,” stripped PhilHealth of its subsidy and left millions vulnerable.

Every rainy season, floods devastate our communities. Families lose homes, livelihoods, and loved ones. Their grief is compounded by the knowledge that billions meant for public service were siphoned away.

The anger of the people is not only justified — it is a cry for justice.

This is what we call compassion fatigue: the exhaustion of citizens who see powerful officials invoke illness as sanctuary from accountability.

Compassion belongs to the poor who endure overcrowded wards, not to those who weaponize privilege.

Justice must remain impartial. It must not bend to influence, status, or wealth. Accountability is the antidote to cynicism, and it is the only path to restoring trust in our institutions.

We pray for your safety, but we also pray for justice — for the families who lost children in floods, for the workers who lost their livelihoods, and for the communities that continue to suffer.

Exact justice.
Demand accountability.
Refuse sanctuary for corruption.

#HealthWithHonor
#RelentlessForChange

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