Co says Marcos got P25B; prez ‘won’t dignify’ claim
President Marcos received kickbacks equal to a quarter of the P100 billion in insertions for public works he allegedly ordered in the 2025 national budget, according to former Ako Bicol Rep. Elizaldy “Zaldy” Co, who said that he personally delivered suitcases of cash to Malacañang.
In the second installment of what could be described as the resigned congressman’s efforts to come clean about his role in the corruption-tainted multibillion-peso flood control projects of the government, Co said he never received any money from the budget insertions for the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
“All the insertions went to our President and to Speaker Martin Romualdez,” Co said in his “Part 2” video that was uploaded on social media on Saturday.
“I, my staff [and] my security personally delivered this to President Marcos and Speaker Martin Romualdez’s house in North Forbes Park, South Forbes Park, and up to Malacañang itself,” he said.
Co said he had asked the DPWH how much in “SOP” (standard operating procedure)—slang for kickback or bribe—should be given to the Office of the President. He said he was told that it was “25 percent.”
“In total, P25 billion went to Bongbong Marcos,” Co said, without mentioning Romualdez’s purported share.
In his “Part 1” video on Friday, Co said that he was told by Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman in late 2024, ahead of the congressional bicameral conference for the proposed 2025 General Appropriations Act (GAA), that the President wanted P100 billion inserted for public works—for flood control and other infrastructure.
He said this was confirmed by Romualdez, who has since stepped down as Speaker, and Undersecretary Adrian Bersamin, the presidential legislative liaison officer of Malacañang.
In Saturday’s video, Co did not say how many bags they delivered separately to Romualdez and to the President and when.
He showed more than a dozen pictures of suitcases, each with a caption indicating the purported total amounts contained that were supposed to have been delivered to the President and Romualdez. They were grouped according to amounts and dates of deliveries.
Captions for at least two groups of suitcases indicated that each group totaled “1 B” (believed to mean P1 billion). They were supposed to be delivered on Oct. 2, 2024, and on June 3, 2024, to a certain “RR.”
One picture showing the latest scheduled delivery (10 suitcases) was for May 29, 2025.
The caption for the earliest group of suitcases showed they were for delivery on Jan. 8, 2024.
Co, who has been abroad since July, did not explain why kickbacks were paid so early in 2024, when the National Expenditure Program (NEP) on which the 2025 national budget would be based, had not even been presented to Congress. This was also months before the alleged P100-billion insertions were made.
Romualdez: ‘Conscience clear’
The President, who was visiting typhoon-damaged communities in La Castellana town in Negros Occidental province on Saturday, refused to respond to Co’s allegations.
“If you want to talk about the storm, let’s talk about that. I don’t want to even dignify what he’s saying,” Mr. Marcos told reporters who asked for his comment on Co’s video statements.
The President left without entertaining any other questions.
Romualdez stepped down as Speaker amid the flood control corruption scandal last month that triggered House and Senate inquiries.
In a statement on Saturday, the ex-Speaker rejected Co’s allegations and said that his conscience “remains clear.”
“Throughout this inquiry, no public official, contractor, or witness has pointed to any wrongdoing on my part,” he said.
The Leyte congressman declined to respond to Co’s latest accusations as these were “not made under oath and do not hold water in the court of law.”
Romualdez reiterated his trust in the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI), the Department of Justice, and the Office of the Ombudsman to objectively evaluate evidence of any wrongdoing.
He added that he was ready to cooperate with any lawful investigation and expressed confidence that the truth will emerge through the proper institutions.
Co, who had been chair of the House appropriations committee since 2022, resigned from the post in January this year for health reasons.
Acting Presidential Communications Secretary Dave Gomez on Saturday dismissed Co’s allegations as a bad script and again challenged the resigned Ako Bicol party-list representative to return to the Philippines and swear to his allegations for legal value.
“Come home, sign these under oath and face the music,” Gomez said in a Viber message to reporters.
The communications office chief reiterated that Co’s allegations were baseless.
“We may begin to sound like a broken record. What he is saying is a bunch of hearsay,” Gomez said.
On Friday, Gomez said Co’s claims were just “wild accusations” and “pure hearsay.”
“The script wasn’t rewritten for the second video even though the first had landed in the gutter,” he said to reporters on Saturday.
Castro: About those bags
For her part, Malacañang press officer Claire Castro said Co was lying and engaging in “propaganda” against the President and that the former congressman’s “sin against the people is growing” after he himself admitted that he made insertions in the budget.
“He can no longer deny that he has betrayed the people by making insertions only to be stolen,” she said in a video statement.
Castro noted that the President himself was angered when he could no longer recognize the NEP that his administration submitted to Congress and was moved to veto P194 billion in line items from the proposed 2025 GAA, which is more than the P100-billion alleged insertions.
She also called attention to the pictures of bags allegedly containing cash presented by Co dated January, May, June, August and October, all in 2024 and all before the November 2024 start of the bicameral conference.
“So how could his people allegedly deliver the suitcases in January, May, June, August and October 2024 if the Bicam Conference for Budget 2025 had not yet started?” she said.
“Where did he get the money during those months of 2024 if the alleged deliveries will come from Budget 2025? Only the suitcases were shown. Where is the money he is talking about?” she added.
Despite having “no faith” in the Office of the Ombudsman, Co challenged Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla to investigate both Mr. Marcos and Romualdez, “if he was truly serious about his promise” to sweep away everyone involved in the flood control scandal.
Fraternity brothers
He noted that the former Speaker was Remulla’s fraternity brother in the Upsilon Sigma Phi at the University of the Philippines.
“He must now prove his pronouncement that he will investigate his fraternity brod and his friend Speaker Martin Romualdez if he were to truly perform his duties,” Co said.
“He must also investigate President Bongbong Marcos. Just like BBM said during the Sona, ‘Let’s do it right,’ and ‘have some shame,’ isn’t that right?” he added.
Co also urged the Senate to investigate the alleged P100-billion budget insertion.
“I know that Ombudsman Remulla would not take up my challenge, but the Senate is doing a good job in investigating and I believe that because of them, the truth will come out,” Co said.
Co has been implicated in the flood control corruption scandal through Sunwest Inc., a construction company he had cofounded. He said that he had divested from the company, but he and his family are believed to retain beneficial interest in it.
Earlier, Remulla said his office may file a case in the Sandiganbayan, possibly next week, against Co and other individuals in the P289.5-million flood control project in Naujan, Oriental Mindoro, for alleged substandard construction and overpayment. —WITH REPORTS FROM DEMPSEY REYES, MARY JOY SALCEDO, CARLA GOMEZ AND DIANNE SAMPANG
