Zaldy Co resigns from House, cites security threat

Ako Bicol Rep. Elizaldy Co tendered his “irrevocable resignation” as a member of the House of Representatives on Monday in the wake of a high-stakes probe into anomalies in fraudulent flood control projects, in which he is heavily implicated.

The embattled lawmaker cited a “real, direct, grave, and imminent threat” to his security and family as a key contributing factor that drove him to abruptly vacate his post. He also decried the “evident denial of my right to due process of law.”

“The Ako Bicol Party-list will inform your good office of the nominee who will take my place in the House of Representatives,” the letter read.

Today, 29 September, marked the deadline for Co’s return to the Philippines after House Speaker Bojie Dy revoked his travel clearance and gave him only 10 days to comply with the directive.

The move aimed to compel Co, who left the country for the United States to seek “medical treatment” but is now reportedly in Spain, to fly back to the Philippines and confront the flood control kickback accusations repeatedly hurled against him in the proper venue.

Aside from corruption charges related to flood control, Co is also facing an ethics complaint filed by Navotas Rep. Toby Tiangco before the House.

Dy issued an ultimatum to Co on Friday, warning that non-compliance with his order would result in the initiation of disciplinary and legal actions against him.

Co, in response, assured the new Speaker that he is not in hiding and intends to return to the Philippines to face his accusers, but cited security concerns and public condemnation, lamenting that he had already been prejudged for alleged wrongdoing.

The Department of Justice has already subjected the lawmaker to an immigration lookout bulletin to trace his whereabouts.

House no longer has jurisdiction over Zaldy Co

In a late briefing on Monday, Dy said Co’s resignation effectively stripped the House of jurisdiction over him. Nonetheless, the House chief urged him to return to the Philippines to face the music.

The Speaker also mentioned that Co did not furnish his office with a medical certificate to justify his continued stay abroad, though Co claimed that he had been seeking medical treatment since mid-2024.

As for Tiangco’s complaint filed in the House ethics and privileges committee, Co branded it as nothing but “baseless accusations.”

Responding to Tiangco’s imputations, Co vehemently maintained that he did not “mastermind, tolerate, or allow any supposed last-minute insertions and realignments in items in the 2025 GAA (General Appropriations Act).”

“It is improbable, if not absolutely impossible, that I, on my own, could make any supposed ‘insertions’ without the knowledge or approval of the members of both chambers of Congress,” the letter read.

Tiangco, who has been critical of Co, has leveled grave accusations against his former colleague, particularly his alleged role in the insertion of P13.8 billion in the 2025 GAA, which Tiangco branded as “scandalous, corrupt, and highly irregular.”

The alleged insertions were under the provinces of Abra, Bukidnon, Oriental Mindoro, and Sarangani, among others, primarily for flood control projects.

Co chaired the powerful House Committee on Appropriations in the 19th Congress, which oversees and approves annual budget bills, including the highly criticized 2025 GAA, which is subject to a Supreme Court proceeding and a case before the Ombudsman.

Co, Escudero ‘pencilled in’

House Deputy Speaker Ronaldo Puno made a similar accusation, claiming that Co and former Senate President Chiz Escudero “pencilled in” the alleged anomalous last-minute insertions in this year’s budget.

The purported insertions were made behind closed doors during the meetings of the so-called small committee, which comprised Escudero and Co, along with then Speaker Martin Romualdez and former Senator Grace Poe, who chaired the Senate Finance Committee in the 19th Congress.

The small committee, which consolidated the independent amendments to the GAB, held several meetings, in which Romualdez and Poe did not attend, leaving Escudero and Co as the only attendees.

Like Co, Escudero denied having a hand in the insertions.

The 2025 GAA, initially set at P6.352 trillion, was trimmed down to P6.326 trillion after President Marcos Jr. vetoed P194 billion worth of line items deemed inconsistent with his administration’s priority programs, P16.7 billion of which was for flood control projects.

This year’s budget, dubbed the “most corrupt” budget passed by Congress, was also widely criticized for allegedly featuring padded unprogrammed and discretionary funds, while budgets and subsidies for the Department of Education and state health insurer PhilHealth, respectively, suffered deep cuts.

Co has been at the center of intense scrutiny involving the flood control scandal after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. named Sunwest Inc., formerly Sunwest Construction and Development Corporation, among the top 15 contractors that cornered P100 billion worth of government contracts nationwide from June 2022 to May this year.

The figure represents 20 percent of the entire P545.64 billion allotted for the project since Marcos assumed office.

The Albay-based Sunwest was established in 1997 and co-founded by Co.

The Bicolano lawmaker claimed he had long divested from the construction firm when he entered Congress in 2019, but official documents state otherwise.

A review of the list of flood control projects 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.

Co is also among the members of Congress accused of receiving 10 to 25 percent kickbacks from big-time contractors Curlee and Sarah Discaya in exchange for government contracts — a claim he categorically denied.