ast week, Martin Romualdez requested a postponement of his hearing before the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) citing a scheduled medical procedure. The hearing was connected to flood-control anomalies under the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and budget insertions during his tenure as Speaker.
This isn’t the first time a prominent politician in the Philippines has cited health or medical issues as a reason to delay or avoid accountability.
A Reason To Step Away
For example, Joseph “Erap”?Estrada had health issues during his plunder trial and eventually got a pardon. Gloria Macapagal?Arroyo’s administration saw executive tools like EO 464 that limited hearing access under the guise of “state interest” and executive privilege.
Bong Revilla cited medical leave when facing Senate probes. Rodrigo Duterte had unverified reports about medical conditions that shifted public focus.
What this pattern suggests: Health becomes a convenient intermission in the play of accountability. It is not always illegitimate—nobody should dismiss real medical needs—but its repeated use by public figures raises critical questions. Are these procedures genuine pauses in governance or strategic delays in facing scrutiny?
A Conversation That Needs To Happen
When a hearing is postponed, momentum dissipates, evidence may cool, witnesses fade, public attention wanes - accountability is optional, depending on schedule and convenience. It fuels cynicism: if you’re a politician, “just wait till I'm on the operating table” gives you time, and maybe the hearing never happens in full.
And while we focus on whether this individual’s health excuse is valid, we risk losing sight of what really matters: the anomalies, the budget insertions, the missing flood-control funds.
Shield For Accountability
In Romualdez’s case, the question isn’t just whether he needs a procedure—it’s whether this is the right moment to use “medical procedure” as a legit reason to step away. With the ICI probing major infrastructure anomalies and his role as former Speaker under scrutiny, the timing raises eyebrows.
Health shouldn’t be a shield for accountability. The system must ensure that real medical needs are respected—but that accountability doesn’t become optional. Because whether you’re an official or an ordinary citizen paying taxes and expecting services, the same rules of transparency and consequence must apply.
