Joselyn Serenio, a former staff member of House Speaker Martin Romualdez and one of his co-accused in a P7.4-billion plunder case, is currently outside the Philippines, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) said Thursday.
In a statement, the bureau said Serenio had already left the country before the Sandiganbayan issued a hold departure order (HDO) against Romualdez and his three co-accused.
The bureau did not disclose Serenio’s travel details or other personal information, citing the Data Privacy Act of 2012 and other applicable laws.
Meanwhile, in an interview on Thursday afternoon, National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Director Melvin Matibag said that based on the information he received, Serenio left the country around June, or about three months before the Office of the Ombudsman filed the plunder case.
‘We identified na nasa abroad na yung isa… Hindi ko nakuha yung eksaktong detalye [Serenio’s location]. Pero umalis yata noong June,’ said Matibag.
(We identified that one of them is abroad. I didn’t get the exact details [of Serenio’s location]. [But] she apparently left in June.)
‘May team kami na naghahanap para doon sa mga co-accused,’ he also said.
(We have a team looking for all the co-accused.)
As Romualdez’s staff, Serenio was allegedly the one who received the P7.4 billion kickbacks from infrastructure projects, which were ‘specifically traced and laundered in setting up and/or using shell or dummy corporations and conduits,’ according to the information containing the formal charges filed by prosecutors before the Sandiganbayan.
Aside from Serenio, Ako Bicol Partylist Rep. Elizaldy ‘Zaldy’ Co, who is also co-accused in the plunder case, reportedly left the country in July 2025.
Meanwhile, Romualdez’s third co-accused, a certain Felecito Guevarra who is president of a money-changing firm, remains in the country, the BI said.
The bureau also said it would ‘strictly enforce’ the HDO and take appropriate immigration measures within its mandate.
BI spokesperson Anisha Hassan told the INQUIRER in a Viber message that the bureau implemented the HDO against the four individuals starting September 8, a day after the Sandiganbayan issued it.
On Sept. 7, the Sandiganbayan Third Division issued an arrest warrant and HDO against Romualdez, Co, and the two co-accused.
The former speaker was arrested on the same day while in confinement at the Cardinal Santos Medical Center in San Juan City. He was later transferred to the New Quezon City Jail in Payatas on Sept. 14 after he was found to be ‘medically stable’ by a dozen specialists who examined him at the Philippine General Hospital.
Romualdez, during his arraignment on Wednesday where he appeared before the Sandiganbayan via videoconference, pleaded not guilty to the plunder case.
He was later transferred to the New Quezon City Jail in Payatas on Sept. 14 following a medical examination at the Philippine General Hospital.
The plunder charges against the four individuals stemmed from allegations that they received around P7.4 billion in kickbacks from government projects between 2022 and 2025.
The amount supposedly came from contractors, persons, and entities interested in flood control, infrastructure, and/or other government projects funded under the General Appropriations Acts for the mentioned fiscal years.