Zaldy Co was building 5-storey basement in Forbes Park to store cash — DILG

Former Ako Bicol party-list representative Zaldy Co was building a five-storey basement in his Forbes Park house in Makati City, possibly intended for storing money, Interior and Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla said Tuesday.

"We always assume that it is for parking but it is to our knowledge that it was going to be used for storage of money," Remulla said at a press conference.

"Because fire goes upwards so they put the money below in the lowest point of the house so that it won't be harmed if there is a fire," he added.

According to Remulla, the construction of the building was stopped after the flood control projects corruption scandal erupted.

Co’s counsel Atty Ruy Rodain dismissed Remulla’s claim as a “fabrication.”

“Rep. Co again challenges Sec. Remulla to disclose the source of his information, because neither the existing building nor the construction plans support his claim,” Rodain said, as reported on “24 Oras” on Tuesday.

“The house is designed with a split-type basement, strictly for vehicles. This is necessary not because Rep. Co has accounted for cash, but because the village’s rules allow only a limited building area in relation to the total lot area,” he added.

Co’s counsel said, “The claim that the basement is so designed to store cash because 'fire moves upward' is pure speculation. The public deserves facts, not misinformation. The latter has no place in the debate on public issues.”

Arrest warrants have been issued against Co and others including officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and directors of Sunwest Corp. over supposed anomalous flood control programs.

On November 18, the Ombudsman filed with the Sandiganbayan corruption and malversation of public funds charges against Co and others. 

The charges were in connection with the alleged anomalous P289 million flood control project in Oriental Mindoro. — VDV/RF, GMA Integrated News