The Cousin Sacrifice

Walang Kamag-anak, Walang Kaibigan — Except When Ratings Are Sinking

By Louis ‘Barok’ C Biraogo — November 22, 2025

Or how President Marcos Jr. threw his first cousin under the flood-control bus to save his own sinking approval ratings

Mga ka-kweba, grab your coffee and your blood-pressure meds.
Tonight we just watched a masterclass in political survival — vintage Philippine edition.

1. The Opening Gambit: “Kahit Pinsan Ko ‘Yan”

Today, while half of Metro Manila was still underwater, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. did something no one saw coming… or maybe everyone did.

In a perfectly lit, perfectly timed video message, he looked straight into the camera and said the magic words:
“Walang kamag-anak, walang kaibigan.”

Then he publicly handed his own first cousin — former House Speaker Martin Romualdez — to the Ombudsman on a silver platter, garnished with a joint DPWH-ICI referral recommending plunder, graft, and direct bribery.

Let that sink in.
The man who delivered the House supermajority, who controlled the budget like his personal ATM, who inserted billions in flood-control projects that apparently only controlled the flow of money to certain contractors — is now the official fall guy for every failed dike, every submerged barangay, every floating coffin.

This is not accountability.
This is the oldest trick in the book: the sacrificial cousin.

When the people are furious, you don’t clean the entire house.
You burn one wing so the rest stays warm.

And the timing? Chef’s kiss.
Floods still receding. Senate hearings getting spicy. Dutertes sharpening their knives.
Suddenly — boom — plunder referral. Immaculate.

**From House Speaker to house boat anchor—tough break, cous!**

2. The Legal Battlefield: A Plunder Case Already on Life Support

Let’s look at the actual charges, because headlines aren’t convictions.

What the prosecution (DPWH + ICI) has:

Contracts awarded to Sunwest Inc. and Hi-Tone Construction from 2016–2025 (conveniently linked to Zaldy Co)
Sworn testimony from retired Sgt. Orly Guteza claiming direct knowledge of kickbacks

That’s their “combination or series of overt acts” under RA 7080 §4. A 9-year pattern is nice on paper.

What the defense is going to do to it:

Eviscerate Sgt. Guteza
One sergeant vs. the Marcos-Romualdez-Araneta legal dream team. They’ll dig up his service record, his finances, his cousin’s ex-girlfriend’s nephew — anything to make him look unreliable.
Invoke the Main Plunderer Doctrine (Macapagal-Arroyo v. People (G.R. No. 220598, 2017))
The Supreme Court said: you must identify the main plunderer and prove personal benefit.
If the money went to corporate accounts, if Zaldy Co “divested” years ago, if Martin Romualdez can show he never touched a single peso — plunder collapses faster than those flood walls.

Realistic outcome?
Graft (RA 3019) and maybe bribery stick.
Plunder? Conviction rate since 2001: 1 out of 1 (Estrada v. Sandiganbayan (G.R. No. 148560, 2001) — and that needed EDSA Dos).

3. The Knives Are Out: Next Moves

Romualdez & Co’s options (pick your poison):

Motion to quash → delay → more delay → Sandiganbayan traffic
Rally the House supermajority → “political persecution” resolution
Nuclear option: Impeachment of the President for betrayal of public trust (the votes are there)

President Marcos’s counter-moves:

Control the narrative: every flooded street now has a new villain — Martin
Budget chokehold: starve Romualdez allies of pork
Let the case drag until 2028 (public memory = goldfish)

And the best part?
The President sits there untouched.
As if DPWH isn’t under him. As if the budget wasn’t passed on his watch. As if the system he inherited — and never reformed — isn’t the real criminal.

Spare me the sanctimony.

4. The Fallout: What Happens Next?

Scenario	Likelihood	Outcome
Real accountability	20%	Convictions + genuine procurement reform
Protracted circus	60%	Years of litigation → plea on lesser charges → everyone moves on
Constitutional crisis	20%	House vs. Palace showdown → budget impasse → 2028 becomes a bloodbath

Bottom line:
Public trust just took another nosedive.
Because when the President says “no one is above the law” while feeding his cousin to the wolves, what he’s really saying is:

“Someone has to pay. Just not me.”

That’s not justice.
That’s survival.

Pass the asin. This one’s going to burn for years.

–Barok