Zaldy Co’s lawyer: President’s blackmail claim ‘untrue’
“Completely untrue.”
The lawyer of resigned congressman and fugitive Zaldy Co on Wednesday denied President Marcos’ claim that he tried to blackmail Malacañang to prevent the cancellation of his client’s passport.
“I have not spoken with anyone from the government to negotiate the stoppage of the videos for the passport,” Ruy Rondain, Co’s legal counsel, said in a message.
“As I have always maintained, I have no control over the release of the videos,” he added.
Earlier on Wednesday, the President said Co’s camp offered to suspend the release of videos containing allegations implicating top officials in graft-riddled insertions in the 2025 national budget; in exchange, it wanted the Palace to stop the cancellation of the former lawmaker’s passport.
“Zaldy Co’s lawyer approached us and attempted to blackmail us, saying that if we do not cancel his passport, he will [not] stop releasing his videos,” the President said in a video statement.
“I do not negotiate with criminals. Even if you release all your videos full of lies meant to destabilize the government, I want you to know, Zaldy, your passport will still be canceled. You will not escape justice,” he added.
The Department of Foreign Affairs has yet to receive a court order to cancel Co’s passport.
Should his passport be canceled, Co would be unable to travel to any foreign country, compelling him to return to the Philippines. He might also be detained by immigration officers in his destination country and eventually be deported to Manila.
Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla, however, said authorities were facing difficulty in tracking Co’s whereabouts. The government is looking into information that Co might be using another passport and assuming another identity.
FL implicated
Malacañang and Mr. Marcos himself turned into the offensive in the verbal war after Co dragged him and other members of his family into the corruption scandal.
The latest to be implicated by Co, after the President, former Speaker Martin Romualdez and presidential son and House Majority Leader Sandro Marcos, is first lady Liza Araneta-Marcos.
In “Part 3” of his “tell-all” videos, Co alleged that the first lady intervened to halt two separate House investigations into the sudden spike in onion prices and alleged rice smuggling.
“This may be painful to hear, but this is the truth. The first family itself is involved in these corrupt systems. From the President, to the first lady, they are the ones who dictate, control and benefit from transactions that should have been for the benefit of the people,” Co said.
Co alleged that the first lady called Romualdez to ask that the inquiries be halted shortly after her name and that of her brother, Martin Araneta, surfaced.
Inconsistencies
Mr. Marcos has repeatedly dismissed Co’s accusations. He also dared his former political ally to return to the country and prove his claims against him right to his face.
In a press briefing on Wednesday, Palace press officer Claire Castro flagged the “inconsistencies” in Co’s recorded video statements, such as the year when he allegedly started delivering money to Mr. Marcos and Romualdez.
“He should finish all of his allegations, because every time we criticize his inconsistencies, his story changes—along with the hairstyle in the video,” Castro said, implying that the videos were not recorded in one sitting as Co intended with his similar outfit throughout the video clips.
In a series of recorded videos, Co had accused the President and Romualdez, as well as some Cabinet members, of orchestrating supposed “insertions” worth P100 billion in the 2025 national budget.
He also claimed that he delivered P56.4 billion in cash hidden inside pieces of luggage from 2022 to 2025 to the residences of Mr. Marcos and Romualdez. Both Marcos and Romualdez denied receiving such amounts from Co.
Co, who has an arrest warrant issued against him, also asserted that the government was in “full force to silence him.” He has maintained his innocence against allegations that he was involved in the multi-billion flood control corruption scandal. —WITH A REPORT FROM KRIXIA SUBINGSUBING
