Zaldy Co: Marcos Jr., Romualdez took P56B in flood control kickbacks

Former Ako Bicol Representative Zaldy Co on Sunday released the third installment of his videotaped statement, accusing President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez of receiving up to P56 billion in kickbacks from alleged anomalous flood control projects.

Malacañang, however, quickly dismissed Co's latest allegations as "lies."

In the latest video, Co disputed earlier claims by former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) district engineer Henry Alcantara that he pocketed P21 billion in kickbacks.

The actual figure, he said, was P56 billion, which purportedly went to Marcos Jr. and Romualdez.

“Ang sinasabi nilang halaga sa ICI (Independent Commission on Infrastructure) ay P21 billion. Hindi po totoo ’yan. Ang totoong numero ay P56 billion at ang halagang ’yan ay kay Pangulong Bongbong Marcos at Martin Romualdez napunta lahat,” Co said.

(Witnesses told the ICI I pocketed P21 billion. That is not true. The full figure is P56 billion, and it went to President Marcos and Martin Romualdez.)

Co, who has been linked to alleged corruption in flood control projects, has been releasing a series of tightly edited social media videos accusing the President and the former House Speaker of masterminding the supposed schemes.

On Friday, in the first video, he claimed Marcos Jr. orchestrated P100 billion in “fund insertions” in the proposed 2025 national budget.

In the second video uploaded Saturday, Co alleged that he, his staff, and his security personnel personally delivered suitcases of cash to the two officials. He further claimed the President received 25% of the P100 billion as kickbacks.

Both Marcos Jr. and Romualdez have denied the accusations.

Co, who left the country in July, also claimed he had been receiving threats from Romualdez as early as March. He alleged that the former Speaker hinted during a meeting that he would “shoot” him if he spoke out.

“March 2025 pa lang, si Speaker ay nagpaparinig na sa aming meeting na he will shoot me if I will talk,” he said.

(As early as March, Speaker Romualdez was already hinting during a meeting that he would shoot me if I talked.)

He added that Romualdez later warned him over the phone not to return to the Philippines.

“Don’t come home, we will take care of you,” he quoted Romualdez as saying.

He added that the former Speaker supposedly told him it would be dangerous if he returned because “they might hire someone to do a rubout on me or hire the police to kill me while in jail.”

Sought for comment, Palace Press Officer Undersecretary Claire Castro dismissed Co’s claims as “lies.”

“’Yan ang problema sa tahi-tahing kasinungalingan ni Zaldy Co. Walang ebidensiya na maipakita, puro basa ng script lang. Ang exposé na inaasahan ng mga kaalyado niya ay naging comedy series na,” Castro said.

(That is the problem with Zaldy Co’s web of lies. He has no evidence and reads from a script. The exposé his allies were expecting has become a comedy series.)—MCG, GMA Integrated News