FACT CHECK: Romualdez did not ‘dare’ Senate to investigate him; video is AI

WHY THIS MATTERS Claim: In a video, former House speaker and Leyte Representative Martin Romualdez denied being the central figure in corruption scandals in the government and challenged the Senate to invite him to its probe. Rating: FALSE Why we fact-checked this: The video was posted by a Facebook page named PolPolitika on July 15. As of writing, the video has garnered more than 2,100 reactions, 1,700 shares, and 700 comments. The video appears to show Romualdez being interviewed onboard a ship, where he says, “Sa mga Pilipinong hindi bumibitaw, hindi niyo ba naisip? Imposible talaga na ako ang nag-approve ng budget. Common sense na lang talaga.” (To the Filipinos who aren’t letting this issue go, haven’t you thought about it? It’s impossible that I approved the budget. It’s just common sense.) “Bakit ako palagi ang puno’t dulo ng lahat ng ito? Imbitahan nila ako sa Senado. Hindi ako natatakot kahit kanino,” he added. (Why am I always the one tagged as the central figure in all of this? Invite me to the Senate. I’m not afraid of anyone.) Romualdez also allegedly calls out Senators Vicente Sotto III, Panfilo Lacson, and the Tulfo brothers while challenging the upper chamber to invite him to their hearings on alleged corruption in flood control projects. Many social media users believed the post, with some urging the former House speaker to appear before the Senate while others called on Romualdez to drop the names of those involved in the system of corruption. The facts: The video is AI-generated. Results from the AI video detection tool detectvideo.ai showed a 64% likelihood of use of AI generation tools with high confidence level. Humantext.pro also flagged it as AI-generated with a rating of 72%. There are no reports from credible media outlets citing Romualdez as making the statements shown in the video. ‘Central figure’ in corruption scandal: Romualdez has been implicated in corruption allegations, particularly the flood control ghost projects and budget insertion scheme. In November 2025, former Ako Bicol representative Zaldy Co released a video accusing Romualdez and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. of being the masterminds behind insertions in the 2025 national budget. The Office of the Ombudsman also tagged the Leyte representative as a “central figure” in the flood control corruption scandal. “Our investigation identifies former speaker Romualdez as the central figure in a scheme built on the diversion of public funds meant for flood control projects — funds that were supposed to shield Filipino communities from the very floods that, year after year, take their homes, their livelihoods, and too often, their lives,” Assistant Ombudsman Mico Clavano said on Monday, July 20. The former House speaker, however, has repeatedly asserted his innocence. While he did not attend Senate hearings on the budget corruption controversy, he has denied the allegations against him and insisted that he won’t allow himself to be a “fall guy.” (WATCH: Breaking down Romualdez’s response to corruption claims) Romualdez is currently placed under a precautionary hold departure order along with other individuals allegedly involved in the corruption scandal. The US government also canceled Romualdez’s diplomatic and tourist/business visas. Earlier this year, the Court of Appeals ordered the freezing of assets linked to Romualdez. – Lourence Angelo Marcellana/Rappler.com 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. How does this make you feel?