Zaldy Co resigns amid flood control projects investigation

Ako Bicol party-list Representative Zaldy Co on Monday resigned as a member of the House of Representatives amid allegations of massive corruption in connection with flood control projects and insertions in the national budget, accusations that he has repeatedly denied while abroad.

On his Facebook account, Co posted his letter to Speaker Faustino "Bojie" Dy III dated September 29.

"On the account of the real, direct, grave and imminent threat to the lives of my family and me, and the evident denial of my right to due process of law, I am constrained to tender with immediate effect my irrevocable resignation as a member of the House of Representatives," Co said.

ICI urges raps

Co's resignation comes in the wake of the Independent Commission for Infrastructure recommending to the Ombudsman the possible filing of graft, malversation, and falsification charges against him and several officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways in Oriental Mindoro.

The ICI recommendation was related to the P289.5 million road dike project along the Mag-Asawang Tubig River in Naujan, Oriental Mindoro.

ICI executive director Brian Hosaka said the DPWH in Region IV-B implemented the flood management project through contractor Sunwest Inc., which has historical links to Co.

Other DPWH officials included in the referral were MIMAROPA Regional Director Engr. Gerald Pacanan, Assistant Regional Directors Gene Ryan Altea, and Ruben Santos Jr., and ten others, Super Radyo dzBB's Glenn Juego reported.  

Replacement representative

Co said the Ako Bicol Partylist will inform the Speaker’s office of the nominee who will replace him in the House.

“In light of my irrevocable resignation, I will make the necessary arrangements for my office at the Batasang Pambansa to be cleared of my personal belongings in order that the substitute nominee of the Ako Bicol Partylist may seamlessly transition into her or his role as its representative,” Co said.

In a separate letter to Ako Bicol party-list, Co said he will be leaving the organization for the meantime but assured that the party’s public service efforts will remain.

“It is with great sadness that I inform you that I will be taking a leave of absence from the Ako Bicol Partylist starting today until such time as it is safe for me to return to the Philippines to resume my duties as a member and representative of our organization and to address the many false claims being made against me,”  Co said.

 

'Family in grave danger'

Co said the allegations that he pocketed billions of pesos worth of public funds before the Senate blue ribbon panel inquiry on flood control projects had conditioned the mind of the public to condemn and hate him and his family to a point where their lives are now being threatened.

“All I can tell you now is that the accusations being made against me are false. In due time, I will give my statements on the matter. At present, I can only stay silent to protect my family and myself. We are in grave danger,” Co said.

On Monday morning, the Philippine National Police confirmed that the five police security escorts assigned to Co have been recalled after the lawmaker left the country.

Co has denied receiving money from the government’s flood control projects, saying he planned to return to the country to clear his name of the allegations. 

Last week, the DPWH requested the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) to freeze Co and his family’s P4.3 billion worth of air assets amid a government crackdown on supposed ill-gotten assets of personalities linked to the flood control projects mess.

Alleged kickbacks

Dismissed DPWH engineers Henry Alcantara and Brice Hernandez have told congressional inquiries about alleged kickbacks for Co from flood control projects.

Hernandez even told of the delivery of a P1-billion payoff placed in suitcases to a Co staffer.

From 2022 to 2025, Alcantara said Co gave P24 billion to P35 billion worth of projects for DPWH Bulacan First DEO’s implementation, an amount that covered 426 infrastructure projects within that time frame.

“Sa bawat proyekto na pinapasok ni Cong Zaldy, meron akong binigay na obligasyon sa kanya base sa aming kasunduan. Noong 2022, ang kanilang hinihingi na budget sa bawat proyekto ay 20% lamang po. ‘Yun po yung 20% po na 2022 inaayos po namin doon sa litrato po na naipakita sa House investigation,” Alcantara told the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee.

“Noong taong 2023 hanggang 2025, tumaas ang porsyento ng 25%,” he added.

(For every project that Cong Zaldy assigned, I gave him an obligatory amount based on our agreement. In 2022, the budget they asked for for each project was only 20%. It was the 20% that we were processing in the picture that was presented before the House investigation. From 2023 to 2025, the percentage went up to 25%.) —with Llanesca T. Panti/AOL/NB, GMA Integrated News