Zaldy Co: I received nothing from budget insertions
MANILA, Philippines — Resigned Ako Bicol party-list Rep. Zaldy Co has claimed that he never received any amount from budget insertions in the controversial 2025 appropriations law, saying all of it went to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez.
These allegations were included in part two of the former lawmaker’s video statement posted on Saturday. Co broke his silence on Friday after months of hiding, after being implicated in the kickbacks and corruption in government infrastructure projects.
READ: Zaldy Co drops bombshell; ‘Pure hearsay,’ says Palace
“I received no money, and all the insertions went to the president and Speaker Martin Romualdez,” Co said in the video.
Co also said that he, his aides, and security personnel only delivered the money to the houses of Marcos and Romualdez in the North and South Forbes Park and in Malacañang Palace.
Co added that he has a record of the deliveries of cash, in which he showed photos of several pices of luggage in the second part of the video statement.
In the first video, which was posted on Friday, Co implicated Marcos and Romualdez as the alleged masterminds behind P100 billion worth of insertions in the 2025 national budget.
Co then published a list of proposed projects that Marcos, through Romualdez, Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman, and Presidential Legislative Liaison Office Adrian Bersamin, requested to be inserted at the bicameral conference committee level.
READ: Zaldy Co documents: The projects in question, and who implemented them
He then said that what Orly Guteza said about the latter delivering cash to the Malacañang and Forbes Park was true. Guteza claimed that he personally delivered luggage filled with money to the residences of Co and Romualdez.
“What Orly Guteza said about delivering [money] to Forbes Park and to the Malacañang is true,” Co added.
Guteza, a former security consultant of Co, made these allegations as he was presented as a surprise witness by Sen. Rodante Marcoleta at a Senate blue ribbon committee hearing on September 25. /das
