An investigative report by Rappler has connected Leyte Representative and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez to a high-value residential property located in Cadiz, Spain.
The report identified the property as Villa Kabila, a sprawling 2,019-square-meter home situated within the exclusive Sotogrande enclave. The residence reportedly has at least 16 bedrooms and a large swimming pool, and stands on two adjoining lots with a combined land area of 3,976 square meters.
Rappler noted that real estate listings from 2021 to 2023 priced the property between 6.5 million and 6.9 million euros, equivalent to around $7.54 million to $8 million, or ₱444.5 million to ₱471.8 million, before it was acquired.
According to the same report, the villa was purchased on January 30, 2024 by Cecil Property Pte Ltd. Corporate records showed that the company was incorporated in Singapore just days earlier, on January 10, 2024.
The findings are part of Rappler’s investigative coverage examining the ownership and acquisition of high-value overseas properties linked to Filipino public officials.
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.
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