Amid the revived issue of the highly criticized 2025 budget and the anomalies surrounding the flood control projects, Ako Bicol Rep. Elizaldy Co has left the country for the United States, where he is seeking “medical treatment,” House spokesperson Princess Abante confirmed Thursday. 

Abante made the announcement in response to media queries about the whereabouts of the lawmaker, who was rumoredly gone abroad in the wake of the investigation into the flood control projects waged by the administration. 

“Based on my initial inquiry before the Office of the House Secretary General, he is currently out of the country,” Abante said in a briefing. “I understand he is in the United States for medical treatment, with appropriate travel documents.”

DAILY TRIBUNE has reached out to Co’s office since August to seek information about the solon’s whereabouts, but to no avail. 

Data from the House showed that Co was absent from 28 July to 6 August, some without prior notice. From 11 to 27 August, he attended committee meetings.

Co has been at the center of controversy after President Marcos Jr. exposed the top 15 construction firms that bagged P100 billion for flood control projects since June 2022, up to May of this year. This accounts for 20 percent of the entire P545.64 billion allotted for the project since Marcos assumed office.

One of the construction firms is the Albay-based Sunwest Inc., formerly Sunwest Construction and Development Corporation, established in 1997 and co-founded by Co. 

The Bicolano lawmaker claimed that he had long divested in the firm when he ran for a congressional seat in 2019, but reports state otherwise.

A review of the list of flood control projects available on the “Sumbong sa Pangulo” website shows that Sunwest had 76 projects from 7 July 2022 to 1 May 2025, amounting to billions of pesos.

Sunwest had the most projects in Romblon with 18, while it had 11 and 10 in Leyte and Camarines Sur, respectively. The firm also had projects in Oriental Mindoro (9), Occidental Mindoro (7), Surigao del Sur (7), Albay (5), Marinduque (3), Catanduanes (2), Antique (2), Davao del Sur (1), and Guimaras (1).

Meanwhile, Hi-Tone Construction & Development Corp., a firm co-founded by Co’s brother, Christopher Co, had 65 projects nationwide. Christopher Co, the predecessor of Elizaldy, also co-founded Sunwest, but claimed that he divested when he became a lawmaker.

The first day of the House’s investigation into the flood control on Tuesday turned into chaos when Caloocan Rep. Edgar Erice moved to invite Co and former senator Grace Poe, who co-chaired the bicameral conference panel in the 19th Congress. 

The bicam is being blamed for the alleged illegal insertions in this year’s budget, particularly the sudden ballooning of the Department of Public Works and Highways’ budget from P900 billion under the National Expenditure Program to P1.113 trillion in the bicam.

The 2025 General Appropriations Act, initially set at P6.352 trillion, was trimmed to P6.326 trillion after Marcos vetoed P194 billion worth of line items deemed inconsistent with his administration’s priority programs, including P16.7 billion for flood control projects under the DPWH. 

Co was the chair of the powerful House committee on appropriations, tasked with overseeing and scrutinizing the annual budget of the government, in the previous Congress. He abruptly resigned on 13 January, citing “pressing health concerns.”

Navotas Rep. Toby Tiangco, who has been vocal in criticizing this year’s budget, concurred with Erice to invite Co to the flood control investigation and attempted to present evidence in his flash drive to substantiate his claims that Co made budget insertions. 

But Erice later withdrew his motion upon resumption of the hearing from a brief suspension. Tiangco, however, insisted that the panel should still summon Co.