Zaldy Co sought massive sugar, rice, fish import allocations —DA's Laurel

Department of Agriculture (DA) Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. on Thursday said former Ako Bicol Rep. Elizaldy “Zaldy” Co sought massive import allocations for sugar, rice, and fish — requests he said were worth billions of pesos in potential profits.

Laurel said Co turned hostile when the DA rejected them.

Speaking at a press briefing in Quezon City, Laurel laid out for the first time a detailed chronology of what he described as Co’s “extraordinary” attempts to secure preferential treatment in multiple commodity sectors.

Co allegedly asked for 200,000 MT sugar allocation

Laurel said Co asked him early in 2024 to grant his group 200,000 metric tons of refined sugar for that year.

“Ang hiningi sa akin ni Zaldy Co ay… 200,000 metric tons of refined sugar for 2024,” Laurel said, recalling he was “surprised” at the size of the request. (Zaldy Co asked me for 200,000 MT of refined sugar.)

He stressed he rejected the request, saying the DA had just finalized a new sugar import allocation system to “level the playing field.”

Laurel said the requests from Co continued in other sectors.

“Siya mismo… ang humingi sa akin ng 3,000 containers of imported fish para ipasok sa kanyang nominated companies,” he said.

(He himself asked me for 3,000 containers of imported fish for his nominated companies.)

Laurel presented what he said were text messages from Co.

He added that the DA also refused this request due to ongoing reforms intended to prevent discretionary allocations.

“Malinaw na hindi ko siya pinagbigyan… may system na kaming fair and transparent.”

(It’s clear I did not grant it… we now have a fair and transparent system.)

Laurel further reiterated that Co suggested importing 13 million metric tons of rice in 2023, equal to the country’s entire palay output.

He said such a move would have “killed the livelihood” of farmers and would have flooded the market with cheap imported rice.

According to the DA chief, Co’s import requests represented huge potential profits, citing an estimated P2 billion gain from the 200,000 MT sugar request alone.

“Alam niyo ang estimate na kikitain sa 200,000 metric tons is P2B,” he said.
(The estimated earnings from 200,000 MT is P2 billion.)

He said Co became angry after his requests were denied.

“Naramdaman ko na galit na si Zaldy Co sa akin… at gumagawa na siya ng hakbang to destroy my credibility,” he said.

(I felt Zaldy Co was angry and was taking steps to destroy my credibility.)

Laurel said the DA will continue implementing transparent systems across commodities, adding that the agency’s decisions are made collectively, not at the whim of a single official.

GMA News Online sought the reaction of Co and will post it as soon as available.— LDF, GMA Integrated News