A Rappler investigative report has linked Leyte Representative and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez to a multi-million-dollar home in Cadiz, Spain.
According to Rappler, the property -- known as Villa Kabila -- is a 2,019-square-meter residence with at least 16 bedrooms and a large swimming pool, spanning two adjoining lots totaling 3,976 square meters in the affluent Sotogrande enclave.
Based on real estate listings from 2021 to 2023, the property was priced between 6.5 million and 6.9 million euros or $7.54 million to $8 million (P444.5 million to P471.8 million) before it was acquired by Cecil Property PTE Ltd. on Jan. 30, 2024.
Cecil Property Pte Ltd was incorporated in Singapore just days earlier, or on January 10, 2024.
After further investigation, Rappler discovered that Cecil Property had two individuals and a company closely associated with it. The company,
Braavos Holdings OPC, is a Philippine one-person corporation run by Jose Raulito E. Paras, a senior partner at the law firm Padernal & Paras, formerly APP Law.
The law firm has deep ties to Romualdez as Paras served as treasurer for Romualdez's Media Serbisyo Production Corporation and sat on the board of Benguet Corporation, a Romualdez-owned mining giant, until 2023.
Senior partner Edgar Dennis Padernal, for his part, served on the boards of the Romualdez-owned Benguet Corporation and Bright Kindle Resources & Investment before resigning in 2020 and 2024, respectively.
Jesse Hermogenes T. Andres, meanwhile, left the firm in 2022, prior to the Spanish property transaction, but he was still listed on the firm’s website up until it went offline in early January 2026.
Paras and Andres have similar histories on Romualdez's company boards and are known fraternity brothers with Romualdez in Upsilon Sigma Phi.
Andres worked as Department of Justice Undersecretary until December 2025 before he was appointed deputy executive secretary for legal affairs at Malacañang.
The former Speaker’s son, Ferdinand Martin “Marty” Romualdez Jr., has been identified as a polo player who frequently competed in Sotogrande events through the Calatagan Polo Club.
Marty Romualdez was also geotagged at the Ayala Polo Club, just an 11-minute drive from the Villa Kabila property.
Reference, Rappler article:
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