He was catapulted from the board room to the House of Representatives with President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s help.

He became the subject of public scandal after allegedly treating the President and her entourage to a lavish dinner in New York.

And as 2010 approaches, he plays a key role in ensuring that the party the President chairs will win the top spot in the coming elections. Members of the administration coalition Lakas-Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino-Christian Muslim Democrats (Lakas-Kampi-CMD) on Thursday ratified the decision of its leaders to choose former Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. as its standard-bearer for the 2010 elections.

But in order to fuel the campaign of a presidential aspirant who has thus far fared dismally in surveys, the administration party needs all the help it can get in terms of finances. The responsibility of fueling the machinery of the Arroyo-led party hangs on the shoulders of a controversial representative from Leyte, Ferdinand Martin Romualdez.

Romualdez first came under scrutiny when Malacañang identified him as the financier of the much-criticized P1-million dinner of Mrs. Arroyo and her entourage in the upscale New York restaurant Le Cirque a few months ago.

The congressman has denied the Palace’s statement, and remained tight-lipped about his role in the dinner.

As 2010 draws nearer, Romualdez needs to give Mrs. Arroyo something more than just a million-peso dinner. Having been appointed by the President as Lakas-Kampi’s Senior Vice-President (SVP) for Finance last June, the Leyte representative has to pull all the stops in the next six months to help ensure the victory of the administration party in the coming elections.

According to the Lakas-Kampi’s Constitution, Romualdez – as the SVP for Finance – “shall serve as the chief fund-raiser of the Party and shall ensure that the Party’s plans, programs, and projects are successfully implemented through sufficient funding." Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA) Chairman Prospero Pichay, who serves as the party's vice president for members and recruitment, said Romualdez will coordinate their fund-raising activities.

"There's a lot of fundraisers, from the business sector and the private sector. Maraming marami yan, and one of them is of course Martin Romualdez," Pichay told GMANews.TV after the party's national convention. "He (Romualdez) will coordinate also the various fund raisers," added Pichay.

Presidential political adviser Gabriel Claudio, who is also Lakas-Kampi’s secretary-general, said part of the job of Romualdez is to raise funds for the campaign of the party’s 2010 bets.

“As far as the machinery is concerned, kasama na diyan ang (included in that is) fund-raising, but in accordance with the law," Claudio told GMANews.TV in a phone interview.

Romualdez confirmed that he will be playing a big role in ensuring the party's finances. But he gave assurances that every fund-raising activity would be within the bounds of the law. "We'll just go through the traditional process," Romualdez said in a phone interview with GMANews.TV.

He added that the party will source funds from "people who want to support the party." Asked about concerns that government funds would be used to fuel the party's campaign, Romualdez said, "That's not a part of business." "Don't worry about that, di tayo ganun (we are not like that)," he said. "We have enough." For someone who allegedly paid a hefty sum for just one dinner, Romualdez seems to be the perfect man for ensuring that the administration party is well-funded.

The second richest congressman

Rep. Martin Romualdez was first a lawyer and a banker before he became a politician. He is currently connected with 14 companies. According to the summary of the 2008 Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN) of the House of Representatives, Lakas-Kampi’s chief finance officer has a net worth of P477.2 million, making him the second richest congressman in the country.

His wealth is reflected in pricey properties inside the country and abroad. Based on his 2008 SALN, the Leyte representative owns two real estate properties in the Philippines: a piece of land in Mabalacat, Pampanga with a current market value of roughly a million pesos, and a P15-million house and lot in Banilad, Cebu City.

Romualdez also owns a house and lot in the United States – specifically in Dover, Massachusetts, which costs $1.5 million or more than P71 million. But documents show that the legislator derives most of his net income from stocks.

Last year, he declared a total of P378.9 million worth of investments in various companies in the country. Romualdez also declared that he is a stockholder in 14 different corporations. His business connections range from the country’s largest trustee bank to several mining corporations around the country.

Romualdez also has shares in various real estate corporations and even in a food corporation that produces meat and poultry products. Many are wondering, however, how the 46-year-old neophyte politician amassed enough wealth to reportedly host a million-peso dinner for the President, and give the latter confidence to let him handle the funding for a nationwide political campaign. A look into the Leyte representative’s political and familial ties might be able to provide some explanation.

Marcos legacy

Fellow congressmen at the House of Representatives describe the first-term congressman as a "friendly" but "low-profile" politician. Romualdez is the son of former Leyte governor and ambassador to the United States, Benjamin “Kokoy" Romualdez, who is in turn the brother of former First Lady Imelda Marcos.

At the height of Martial Law, Kokoy was widely reported as one of the most influential cronies of then strongman Ferdinand Marcos. The former diplomat is recognized by Forbes as the 30th richest man in the Philippines, with a net worth of $70 million or more than P3.3 billion.

When Kokoy and his family, together with the Marcoses, fled the country in 1986 in the wake of the EDSA People Power revolution, the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) listed at least 61 corporations where the Marcos crony was said to have acquired shares illegally.

Among these firms are Benguet Corporation, First Philippine Holdings, Mantrade Development Corporation, Meralco, Meralco Foundation Inc., Philippine Commercial and International (PCI) Bank, Philtranco Service Enterprise, and Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corporation. Despite the efforts of the PCGG to sequester these shares and companies, the Romualdez family still controls some of the supposed illegally acquired stocks.

The family-owned Trans Middle East Philippines Equities, Inc. is the sixth largest stockholder in Banco De Oro Unibank, Inc. (formerly Equitable-PCI). Palm Avenue Holdings, another Romualdez company, is the second largest stockholder in Benguet Corporation.

Martin is listed as a stockholder in both BDO and Benguet Corp. In addition to the supposed ill-gotten wealth, the Marcos-Romualdez clan also holds more than P1 billion in public funds through six family members – including Martin – who currently hold national and local posts.

Based on the 2007 Priority Development Assistance Fund and Internal Revenue Allotment figures, the Marcos-Romualdez clan is the eighth political family in the country that wields the most power over billions of public funds.

A rising politician

Rep. Martin Romualdez seems close with the Arroyos, particularly with the President - as manifested in the lavish New York dinner and election intervention in 2007.

Like many of his colleagues in the lower house, Rep. Romualdez comes from a long line of political leaders. His grandfather Daniel was the House Speaker from 1957 to 1962. Daniel’s father Miguel served as an assemblyman in Leyte and mayor of the city of Manila.

His cousin Ferdinand “Bong-Bong" Marcos Jr. is currently the representative for the second district of Ilocos Norte, and has announced his plan to run for the Senate in 2010. Despite this lineage, Romualdez is known for keeping a low profile in the media, often turning down requests for face-to-face or telephone interviews.

However, this did not stop him from gaining friends in the right places – something which a congressman who refused to be named just attributed to the “friendly" personality of Romualdez.

Among his good friends are the children of Mrs. Arroyo, Camarines Sur Rep. Diosdado “Dato" Macapagal Arroyo and Pampanga Rep. Juan Miguel “Mikey" Arroyo. Both Romualdez and Dato are on their first term in Congress, as members of the Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino (Kampi).

Meanwhile, Romualdez teamed up with Mikey in pushing for the controversial move to amend the constitution through a Senate-less constitutional assembly. During his birthday party in November last year, Romualdez and other lawmakers convinced their colleagues to sign a draft resolution that eventually became House Resolution 1109, another congressman who spoke on condition of anonymity pointed out.

“Kung ano yung gusto nila (Arroyo family), tumutulong siya mag-implement (He helps implement what they want)," he said. The source also said the closeness of Romualdez to the Arroyo sons is evident in the “easy" manner by which he is able to receive pork barrel funds for his projects.

The neophyte lawmaker’s official website says he was able to utilize almost the entire P70-million pork barrel allotted to each House member just six months after he assumed office. But this personal relationship may very well be attributed to Romualdez’s debt of gratitude to Mrs. Arroyo.

According to former Leyte congressman and presidential chief legal counsel Sergio Apostol, what secured the House seat for Romualdez was the agreement between his family and the Petillas – another influential political family in Leyte.

“The agreement was the Petillas won’t put a candidate for congressman and the Romualdezes won’t put a candidate for governor," Apostol told GMANews.TV. As a result, incumbent Leyte Governor Jericho Petilla ran unchallenged by the Romualdezes in 2007.

In return, his mother former congresswoman Remedios “Matin" Petilla gave way to the candidacy of Martin as Leyte representative. The former lawmaker said he did not know who arranged the agreement. But a statement from the website of Romualdez categorically stated that it was Malacañang that intervened to get him the candidacy. - GMANews.TV