Palace on Zaldy Co's accusations vs. Marcos: Pure hearsay

Malacañang on Friday said all the accusations against President Ferdinand ''Bongbong'' Marcos Jr. were pure hearsay.

This was according to the Presidential Communications Office's Acting Secretary, Dave Gomez. 

"These wild accusations are completely without basis and fact. All the charges leveled against the President are pure hearsay,'' Gomez said in a press briefing. 

Gomez pointed out that Marcos himself exposed all the flood control anomalies and has taken numerous steps to ensure that ''the guilty are brought to justice, the stolen wealth recovered, and the system is fixed to avoid any of these from happening again.''

Earlier, former Ako Bicol party-list Representative Zaldy Co accused the President and his cousin, former Speaker Martin Romualdez, as well as some Cabinet members, of orchestrating supposed "insertions" worth P100 billion in the national budget.

Co said the P100 billion insertion under the 2025 budget of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) was reduced to P50 billion since sticking with the P100 billion plan would make the DPWH’s budget bigger than the Department of Education (DepEd), a situation that would violate the Constitution.

Co also said that the government is in "full force to silence him."

The PCO acting chief then urged Co to return to the Philippines and sign his statement under oath. 

''Rep. Zaldy Co should come back to the country and sign everything he said under oath with the proper judicial authorities,'' Gomez said.

In the same briefing, Palace Press Officer Undersecretary Atty. Claire Castro said Co's claims only resulted in more questions than answers, adding that the former lawmaker was ''name-dropping'' even without a basis to save himself from all the allegations thrown at him.

''Dahil lumiliit na ang mundo ni Zaldy Co, kailangan niyang umiwas at iiwas ang sarili at mag-name drop kahit walang katibayan at laway lang ang puhunan,'' Castro said.

(His world is getting smaller, so he needs to save himself and drop names even without basis.) 

''Para masagip ang sarili sa paratang ng pagnanakaw sa kaban ng bayan at mapalitaw na siya ang biktima, siya ay magtatahi ng maling kwento laban sa ibang tao,'' she added.

(In order to save himself from the accusations that he stole public funds, he crafted a story against other people.) 

Castro, meanwhile, alleged that someone could have crafted Co's statements.

''Kung ang Pangulo, ayon na rin sa sinabi ni Zaldy Co, ay hari daw, bakit po kaya sa insertion pa ilalagay ang P100 billion kung pwede po itong isama mismo sa NEP? So doon po ay kataka-taka at alam natin, mukhang may gumawa ng kanyang salaysay, at mukhang hindi niya naiintindihan ang kanyang mga sinasabi,'' she said.

(If the President is indeed a king, just like what Zaldy Co said, why would the P100 billion be an insertion when he could include this in the NEP? So, this is puzzling and it seems that someone could have crafted his statement and he doesn't know what he's saying.) 

It would still depend on Co's next statements if Malacañang would pursue legal action against the former lawmaker following his remarks against the President, Castro said. 

Meanwhile, Castro said the President was already informed about the accusations made by Co, his former ally. She said Marcos was not bothered since he knows the truth.

''Hindi po siya nababahala dahil alam po niya ang katotohanan at kami po mismo ang magbibigay sa inyo ng detalye para malaman po ninyo na ang mga sinasabi ni Zaldy Co ay pawang kathang-isip lamang,'' she said. 

(He is not bothered because he knows the truth and we will provide you with details that will prove that Zaldy Co's statements were baseless.) 

Threats vs. Co?

Castro also said Co should prove that there are really threats to his life. 

''Unang-una, hindi po ba dapat siya ang magpatunay kung may banta sa buhay niya? Saan po niya nakuha itong mga idea na 'to?'' Castro said.

(First of all, he should prove that there are threats to his life? Where did he get this?)

''Nasaan ang mga records na nagpapatunay na may banta sa buhay niya?'' she added. 

(Where are the records that will prove his life is under threat?) 

Co earlier claimed that the administration is using all the resources of the country to keep him quiet. —LDF, GMA Integrated News