Zaldy Co claims Marcos son ordered P50B insertion; Sandro cries destabilization

House Majority Leader Ferdinand Alexander "Sandro" Marcos, the son of President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., ordered nearly P51 billion worth of insertions under the national budgets for 2023 to 2025, former Ako Bicol party-list representative Zaldy Co said Tuesday.

Co made the allegation in a newly released video, with separate documents posted on his social media accounts, saying contractors even paid Marcos in advance in exchange for securing government contracts.

"Hindi lang po ang Pangulo ang may insertions sa budget, pati po si Congressman Sandro Marcos, mayroon din pong ipinapasok taon-taon," Co said. 

(The President is not the only one who has budget insertions. Congressman Sandro Marcos has insertions every year as well.) 

Sandro is the 1st District representative of the President's home province of Ilocos Norte.

In response, Congressman Marcos disputed Co’s allegations, branding these as part of a destabilization attempt.

"Anyone can sit in front of a camera from abroad and spew lies. The statements from the newly crowned champion of the DDS cabal, former Congressman Zaldy Co, are frankly as fantastical as they are false," Marcos said, referring to die-hard supporters of former President Rodrigo Duterte and his family.

"Hindi ito rebelasyon. Ito ay destablisasyon. Gusto niyang pabagsakin ang kasalukuyang administrasyon para ma-abswelto siya sa kanyang mga krimen," Marcos added.

(These are not revelations. This is destabilization. He wants to bring down the administration so he can be absolved of his crimes.)

Co, in the same video message, said Sandro posted P9.636 billion of insertions in the 2023 national budget, a figure which ballooned to P20.174 billion in 2024, and P21.127 billion in 2025. The total amount, Co said, reached P50.938 billion.

These figures, however, are mostly different from the insertion amounts indicated in the documents that Co uploaded in his social media accounts.

Based on the documents presented by Co, Congressman Marcos' insertions in the 2023 national budget was at P9.636 billion, P22.649 billion in 2024, and P23.094 billion in the 2025, for a total of amount of P55.379 billion—about P4.4 billion more than what he said in his video recording.

Unprogrammed appropriations are budget items which will only be funded when there are excess revenue collection or other funding sources provided by loans or special laws. 

"Bawat taon po, sa tuwing dumarating ang Bicam budget process, lagi po may utos si Congressman Sandro na ipasok ang mga prokyekto niya. Nalaman ko na lang sa mga contractor na galit na galit siya sa akin noong pinag-uusapan na ang 2025 GAA (General Appropriations Act) budget," Co said.

(Every year, Congressman Sandro orders us to include his insertions. Contractors then told me that the congressman was very angry at me when the 2025 national budget was being questioned.) 

"Ang sabi raw niya, ipatatanggal ako at magfa-file ng maraming kaso laban sa akin kasi kulang ng 8 billion pesos 'yung insertion na gusto niya ipasok. Ang dahilan daw, may mga contractor na nakapag-advance na sa kanya at dahil hindi naipasok ang buong halaga, kailangan daw niyang magsauli sa mga iyon," Co added.

(Apparently, Congressman Marcos wanted me removed as appropriations chairman and that the government will be filing cases against me because we failed to include his P8 billion worth of insertions. The supposed reason was that there were contractors who already gave him advanced payments and the whole amount could not be processed, thus he would have to return the money.)

Co was the House appropriations panel chairperson during deliberations on the proposed 2023, 2024 and 2025 national budgets. He quit this post in January 2025, citing health reasons. 

Last September, Co quit as a member of the House of Representatives amid accusations that he was involved in the flood control kickback controversy.

'Destabilization,' not revelations

Meanwhile, Congressman Marcos said that based on an intelligence report, Co "already struck a deal with those who stand to benefit" from any power shakeup.

"The public should remember that Co is a person with no credibility whose vested interests are to release these videos to destabilize the government. Filipinos know Co to be the architect of this mess yet continues to insult their intelligence by saying wala siyang nakuha (that he didn't get anything)," Marcos said.

Further, Congressman Marcos said Co’s removal as appropriations committee chair was the result of a collective House decision after learning of Co’s "insatiable greed and corruption."

The former lawmaker is facing malversation and two counts of graft charges over an alleged substandard P289-million road dike project in Naujan, Oriental Mindoro and has a standing arrest order.

He has denied any wrongdoing, saying he never received a kickback off government projects.

As far as Sandro is concerned, however, Co is a criminal. 

"Sa aking mga kababayan, si Zaldy Co ay hindi po isang journalist o truth crusader. Siya po ay isang kriminal na umiiwas sa hustisya. Huwag po tayong magpabudol sa kanya," Marcos added.

(My fellow Filipinos, Co is not a journalist or a truth crusader. He is a criminal who is evading justice. Let's not let ourselves be hoodwinked by him.) — VDV, GMA Integrated News