LIST: Officials barred from leaving the Philippines over flood control cases

MANILA, Philippines – Caught in the probe related to the multibillion-peso flood control corruption scandal, several elected officials have been placed under precautionary hold departure orders (PHDOs), while others are already facing regular hold departure orders (HDOs), barring them from leaving the country.

Both PHDOs and HDOs act as preventive court orders issued by a judge at the request of prosecutors. They, however, differ based on the status of the case.

The Department of Justice’s Circular No. 97 series of 1998 defines HDOs as orders issued strictly by the court handling a case, preventing individuals from leaving the Philippines after formal criminal charges have been filed against them. This could come from a regional trial court or the Sandiganbayan. 

Meanwhile, a PHDO mandates the Bureau of Immigration to prevent any attempt by a suspect to depart from the country while a preliminary investigation is still ongoing and before formal charges are filed in court, according to the Supreme Court’s Office of the Court Administrator Circular No. 194-2018.

A PHDO, however, can only be granted when probable cause based on the attachment of the filed complaints has been established. 

Here is a list of elected public officials who have been placed under PHDOs and HDOs:

Senator Jinggoy Estrada

The anti-graft court Sandiganbayan charged on May 28, 2026, Estrada, former public works secretary Manuel Bonoan, along with several other former officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), with plunder and graft over the flood control scam. 

The court subsequently ordered their arrest and issued an HDO on May 29, 2026. Estrada is now detained at the New Quezon City Jail in Payatas following his arrest at the Senate on June 1, 2026. 

The case stems from allegations made by former DPWH assistant engineer Brice Hernandez, who implicated Estrada and claimed that he received a P355-million kickback from the 2025 Hagonoy and Malolos flood control projects in Bulacan. The amount allegedly represents a 30% “SOP” kickback.

The Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) recommended filing criminal and administrative complaints against Estrada and his co-accused after uncovering evidence linking them to widespread flood control corruption. This marks Estrada’s third time to face plunder and graft charges.

His first plunder case was filed in 2001 alongside his father, former president Joseph Estrada, for allegedly accumulating nearly P4 billion from jueteng operations and tobacco excise tax kickbacks. His second plunder and graft case was in 2014, linking him to the multibillion-peso pork barrel scam.

Estrada was already acquitted in his first two plunder trials, but separate graft and bribery cases from those investigations remain pending.

Senator Chiz Escudero

Like his fellow senator, Escudero is also barred from leaving the country after the Sandiganbayan granted the Ombudsman’s request for a PHDO on April 27, 2026.

Escudero is facing plunder, graft, and bribery complaints related to the flood control scandal, where Centerways Construction and Development Inc. — owned by Lawrence Lubiano, his close friend and 2022 senatorial election top campaign donor — was implicated in the controversy. (READ: Chiz Escudero’s top campaign donor bags P5.16 billion in flood control projects)

Former DPWH undersecretary Roberto Bernardo claimed that he personally delivered a P160-million kickback to businessman Maynard Ngu, who is also Escudero’s close friend and campaign donor.

Former House speaker Martin Romualdez 

Romualdez, who is facing plunder, graft, and money laundering complaints for ghost flood control projects that supposedly amounted to P56 billion, was also barred from leaving the country on April 22, 2026, after the Sandiganbayan approved the Ombudsman’s request to block his medical trip abroad. 

While the monthslong investigations and legal actions are still ongoing, the Ombudsman alleged that he is the “mastermind” behind the multibillion-peso flood control corruption. In a video statement, the former speaker denied this.

The Leyte representative, who was set to travel to Singapore for his angioplasty follow-up check-up, sought clearance to leave the country from April 20 to May 4, 2026, but the Ombudsman was only able to request a PHDO on April 21. His staff said that he was still in the country on April 22, a day after the PHDO was enforced.  

The Sandiganbayan denied Romualdez’s petition to lift his PHDO, according to the court’s decision made public on June 3, 2026. The court said that Romualdez failed to prove the necessity of his travel abroad and that no medical records were submitted to justify his visit to Singapore. 

Former House appropriations chairperson Zaldy Co

Like Romualdez, Co faces graft and malversation charges filed by the Ombudsman on November 19, 2025. Following the filing, the Sandiganbayan issued an arrest warrant and a PHDO against him on November 21, 2025.

Before entering politics, the former Ako Bicol Partylist representative was a longtime contractor. He has since been implicated in several corruption allegations regarding public infrastructure, including irregularities in a P289.5-million flood control project along the Mag-asawang Tubig River in Naujan, Oriental Mindoro.

Co resigned from his position as congressman on September 29, 2025, after the House issued an ultimatum demanding he return home or face disciplinary action for his absences since the start of the 20th Congress.

In his resignation letter, Co said his exit from Congress was “on account of the real, direct, grave, and imminent threat to the lives of my family members and me, and the evident denial of my right to due process of law.”

Co managed to evade local law enforcement authorities because he was already abroad when his warrant was issued. He was seeking “medical treatment” in the United States. Just days prior, on November 15, 2025, he released a three-part video accusing President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. of receiving P25 billion in kickbacks from 2025 budget insertions. 

After months on the run, Co was reportedly “detained” in Prague for lack of necessary documents while crossing the Czech Republic. Marcos had posted that Co was already “nahuli” (arrested), but Malacañang later said they were “unaware” of Co’s current whereabouts. 

In a decision made public on June 2, 2026, the Sandiganbayan 6th Division junked the petition of Co’s co-accused to junk their malversation case. As of writing, Co and other Sunwest board members who are facing malversation and graft cases remain at large. 

Yap brothers 

The Sandiganbayan issued a PHDO against Benguet Representative Eric Yap and his brother, former ACT-CIS representative Edvic Yap, barring them from leaving the country on March 3, 2026. 

The PHDO was granted after the Ombudsman’s Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) requested the restriction during its ongoing preliminary investigation. 

The probe follows an Anti-Money Laundering Council discovery that “Silverwolves Construction Corporation made significant fund transfers amounting to P6.1 billion to the personal accounts of Edvic Yap….and Eric Yap.”

The OSP’s application for a PHDO cited an earlier complaint filed by the DPWH with the Ombudsman on October 23, 2025. The complaint alleged that Silverwolves falsely reported 100% completion to receive full payment for two unfinished P89-million flood control projects. 

Amid the controversy, Edvic resigned from his post as ACT-CIS representative on February 4, 2026. 

This story will be updated if more elected officials are issued PHDOs or HDOs linked to the flood control scandal. – Rappler.com