P1B delivered in suitcases to Co’s penthouse, say 2 ex-DPWH execs
Around P1 billion in cash—allegedly packed into more than 20 suitcases and transported in six to seven vans—was delivered to the penthouse of Ako Bicol Rep. Elizaldy Co at a five-star hotel in Taguig, according to two former engineers of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
Brice Hernandez, dismissed Bulacan first district engineer, made the allegations at the hearing of the Senate blue ribbon committee on anomalous government infrastructure projects on Tuesday, adding that he handed the money to Co’s aide he identified only as “Paul.” The cash, he said, was delivered to Shangri-La The Fort at Bonifacio Global City.
While he did not personally meet Co, Hernandez claimed that he saw the lawmaker when the latter met with his former “boss,” former Bulacan district engineer Henry Alcantara, at the same hotel.
“I saw him (Co)… He was talking to the boss (Alcantara),” Hernandez said, in response to queries from Sen. Erwin Tulfo.
Asked by Tulfo whether it was just a meeting, Hernandez said they also delivered money but not directly to the congressman.
“We did not see Congressman Zaldy directly. The person who spoke to us was someone named Paul, who works for him,” Hernandez said.
‘False and baseless’
Co served as chair of the powerful House committee on appropriations during the 19th Congress from 2022 to 2025. He is among lawmakers implicated in the anomalous flood control projects that the Senate, the House and the newly created Independent Commission for Infrastructure are investigating.
In a statement on Tuesday, Co denied the latest allegations raised against him, stressing that he is reserving his right to respond to these allegations at a proper forum.
P50M per suitcase
“The allegations made against me during today’s Senate hearing are false and baseless. I reserve my right to respond to these allegations at the proper time before the proper forum,” said Co, who is in the United States for a prolonged medical leave since the 20th Congress opened in July.
When Tulfo later asked how much money was delivered to Paul, Hernandez said: “There were many suitcases of money, Your Honor. I believe it amounted to billions [of pesos].”
According to him, the money was loaded into more than 20 suitcases and stacked into six to seven vans.
“Each suitcase contained around P50 million,” Hernandez said.
Jaypee Mendoza, a dismissed Bulacan first district assistant engineer, corroborated Hernandez’s testimony and detailed how the money was delivered to Co’s penthouse.
“[The money] went straight to the elevator going up to the penthouse—the top floor. In fact, one of our companions, engineer Paul, actually made it all the way up there,” Mendoza said.
Aside from Co’s penthouse, Mendoza said he was involved in deliveries to the lawmaker’s house at Valle Verde 6 in Pasig City.
“Just like what Boss Henry mentioned earlier—if I’m not mistaken—the first two years were at Shangri-La. In the following years, everything took place in Valle Verde 6,” he said.
It was not clear in their narration, however, when these meetings and cash deliveries happened.
Alcantara affidavit
In his sworn affidavit read before the blue ribbon committee, Alcantara also admitted that he had personally delivered money to Co.
He said the lawmaker’s share from each project was 20 percent in 2022 but it increased to 25 percent from 2023 to 2025.
In just four years or from 2022 to 2025, Co had allegedly “downloaded” 426 projects which amounted to a total of at least P35 billion.
Alcantara said Co’s share was sourced from advance payments of contractors.
“The money intended for Cong. Zaldy is brought to me. I then deliver or hand over the amount, equivalent to the percentage that he demands, to his people like ‘Alias Paul’ and ‘Alias Mark,’” Alcantara said in Filipino.
“There were an instance or two when Cong. Zaldy’s share was delivered to the parking lot of Shangri-La Hotel in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig. Sometimes, I would bring it to his house on Ladybug Street, Valle Verde 6, in Pasig City,” he added.
Ethics complaint
Also on Tuesday, Navotas Rep. Toby Tiangco asked the House ethics committee led by 4Ps Rep. JC Abalos to investigate Co for betraying public trust as well as violating the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees and the House Rules.
Specifically, Tiangco is accusing Co of “mastermind[ing], tolerat[ing], and deliberately allow[ing] last-minute insertions and realignments” in the 2025 national budget; his continued absence in the 20th Congress; as well as benefiting from government contracts despite holding public office.
Former Bulacan first district engineer Alcantara told the Senate blue ribbon committee on Tuesday that Co was among the lawmakers who had maneuvered to include flood control projects in the national budget in exchange for kickbacks since 2022, the same time he was appropriations chair.
“As the former chairperson of the committee on appropriations, much was expected of Representative Co,” Tiangco said. “He was duty-bound to ensure faithful compliance with constitutional and legal parameters in the budgetary process.”
But “with all the lingering issues on the 2025 budget insertions, Co undoubtedly betrayed the public’s trust and ruined the reputation of the institution he ought to protect,” he added.
Sunwest Inc.
Co is a cofounder of Sunwest Inc., which bagged P86 billion worth of infrastructure contracts from 2016 to 2022, including the time that he was serving as representative of Ako Bicol party list.
Nearly half of these contracts went to Bicol region, where his family maintains deep political and business roots.
Tiangco argued that under Section 141, Rule XX of the House rules, House members cannot benefit or have pecuniary interests from enterprises that could constitute conflict of interest.
Co said he had divested from the Albay-based firm since 2019, when he first became a lawmaker.
Co’s travel clearance had been revoked by newly elected Speaker Faustino “Bojie” Dy III last week.
The Speaker ordered Co to come home within 10 days and warned him that failure to adhere to the order “could result in the initiation of appropriate disciplinary and legal actions.”
