FACT CHECK: Romualdez not arrested in the US

Claim: Leyte 1st District Representative Martin Romualdez was arrested in the United States by the administration of US President Donald Trump.

Rating: FALSE

Why we fact-checked this: The YouTube channel “Political PH TV” uploaded a video on January 27 titled, “Heto na! Tamba, arestado na? Hinuli ni Trump sa Amerika? Deserve!”

(Here it is! Tamba has been arrested? Captured by Trump in America? Deserve!)

Its thumbnail features sensational text — “Just in! Grabe! Magugulat ka dito!” (Gosh! You will be shocked by this!) — alongside images of Trump holding a purported arrest warrant and Romualdez wearing what appears to be an orange prison uniform.

In the video, commentary by Duterte-aligned political vlogger Banat By was used to discuss reports on a property acquired by Romualdez in New York. 

The narrator alleges that Romualdez’s salary as a lawmaker does not justify such a purchase and suggests that he was living beyond his means. The commentary then speculates that the matter should be investigated, implying corruption and accusing Romualdez of money laundering. 

As of writing, the video has garnered over 24,000 views and nearly 2,000 likes. It circulated amid investigations into alleged anomalous flood control projects that implicated Romualdez during his term as House speaker.

The facts: The Trump administration did not order Romualdez’s arrest. No credible news outlet has reported on the supposed arrest, and no official statement from either the US or the Philippine governments supports such a claim. 

The video referred to a report by journalist Natashya Gutierrez about a luxurious Manhattan property acquired by Romualdez in 2024, citing documents from the office of the city register in New York. While the video by “Political PH TV” frames the acquisition of this US property as the reason for Romualdez’s supposed arrest, it provides no evidence to substantiate this claim.  

This is not the first time that Romualdez was linked to multimillion-peso properties. In October 2025, Rappler reported that the former House speaker transferred a Massachusetts property worth $2.24 million, which he had purchased in 1988, to a corporation whose registered president has ties to him for just $1. 

The transfer was made in July 2025, just before controversies over alleged flood control anomalies were exposed in President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s State of the Nation Address. Rappler reported that while the move was lawful, a US-based lawyer said the transaction could count as a “fraudulent conveyance” because it may be used to hide assets from creditors.

No arrest warrant: After being implicated in the flood control scandal, Romualdez was among those listed in an Immigration Lookout Bulletin Order issued by the Department of Justice last October. The order monitors the movement of listed individuals. It does not restrict travel or constitute an arrest warrant.

While several arrests have already been made over the flood control scandal, no criminal charges or arrest warrants have been issued for the former House speaker, although the public works department and the Independent Commission for Infrastructure have recommended the filing of plunder, graft, and bribery charges against Romualdez before the Office of the Ombudsman. 

Allegations of corruption: Romualdez resigned as House speaker in September 2025. In late November, former lawmaker Zaldy Co accused Romualdez and Marcos of masterminding large budget insertions and allegedly receiving millions in kickbacks. 

Romualdez has denied the allegations and maintained that his “conscience is clear.” – Cyril Bocar/Rappler.com

Efren Cyril Bocar is a journalist from Llorente, Eastern Samar who graduated with a degree in English Language Studies at the Visayas State University. Cyril is also a graduate of the Aries Rufo Journalism Fellowship of Rappler for 2024. 

Keep us aware of suspicious Facebook pages, groups, accounts, websites, articles, or photos in your network by contacting us at factcheck@rappler.com. Let us battle disinformation one Fact Check at a time.