House supermajority dismisses Zaldy Co’s allegations vs. Marcos, Romualdez as 'fabricated story'

The supermajority bloc in the House of Representatives on Monday downplayed the scathing allegations of their former colleague, Elizaldy Co, against President Marcos Jr. and former Speaker Martin Romualdez, branding them as a “fabricated story” designed to absolve himself of wrongdoing.

The leaders of five political parties, constituting the House majority, faced the media for the first time following the release of Co’s three-part video exposé, declaring that “everybody is still in support of President Marcos.”

House Deputy Speaker Ronaldo Puno, chairperson of the National Unity Party, disclosed that a meeting was held early Monday, during which party leaders reached a consensus to remain solidly behind the Chief Executive.

In a three-part video uploaded by Co on his Facebook page over the weekend, he alleged that Marcos orchestrated the insertion of a staggering ₱100 billion in this year’s budget and received a ₱25 billion share.

Puno said he’s not buying Co’s alibi, calling him “not credible” and accusing him of making up “crazy stories.”

“For him to accuse anybody at this point in time, I think, is very presumptuous, because he is the most guilty here,” Puno said in a briefing.

Co the ‘most guilty’

The House leader noted that the most “unbelievable” part was when Co claimed that he never received a cent from the alleged insertions and that all the money went straight to the President and the former Speaker.

Puno and Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Adiong asserted that Co is clearly riding the wave of public outrage over Romualdez and using it to his advantage.

“Of course, he’ll drag down the people being mentioned already, especially those he feels will lead to greater credibility for himself,” Puno stated. “Since Speaker Romualdez has long been in the spotlight, he put him first.”

“I think he appeals to the ordinary logic of every Filipino: Who actually is more superior to him? I think the Speaker and the President. So naturally, that would be a convenient excuse for him to appear as the least guilty,” said Adiong, a stalwart of Romualdez-led Lakas-CMD.

Marcos’ turf not recipient of insertions?

To substantiate his allegations, Co presented photos of what appear to be a list of project insertions with their corresponding amounts.

However, Mountain Province Rep. Maximo Dalog Jr. noticed that provinces in the north—Marcos’ bailiwick—received almost nothing from the alleged insertions in the 2025 budget, raising suspicions of a potential fabrication.

“It’s quite unbelievable that the President will make insertions, and then we, the people of the north, would not benefit from them,” he pointed out.

For his part, South Cotabato Rep. Ferdinand Hernandez of the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas posited that Co’s accusations against Marcos and Romualdez are “purely hearsay” unless he returns to the country and swears an oath.

“There’s no way to find out or authenticate the video. That’s important evidence… He also needs to be cross-examined,” he said in the same briefing.

Dutertes behind Co?

Meanwhile, political analyst and former presidential political adviser Ronald Llamas posited that Duterte allies might have played a role in Co’s revelation, pointing to the timing of the videos’ release, which was almost synchronized with the ongoing protests to topple the administration.

He took into account Senator Imee Marcos’ prior announcement that Co would be a “VIP witness” in the Senate flood control probe last week, suggesting it as “advance notice” because the lawmaker may have gained “access” to Co, who is still hiding abroad.

“The timing of his testimony seems to be helping those who are attacking the government and want to overthrow it. Clearly, these are the Dutertes,” he said in an interview.

He also flagged “several contradictions” in Co’s so-called testimony, particularly the alleged insertions attributed to the President.

Llamas said it doesn’t make sense that Marcos would wait for the bicameral conference committee to make insertions when he could have added them early in the budgetary proceedings or before submitting the National Expenditure Program to Congress.

Llamas and lawyer Florencio “Butch” Abad, a former Budget and Management secretary, also concurred with Puno that it’s nearly impossible that Co did not benefit from billions in insertions, citing his lavish lifestyle, such as owning multiple air assets.

They also pointed to Co’s active role in drafting the budget as chairman of the House appropriations panel. He was also a member of the so-called small committee, which allegedly made the questionable amendments to this year’s budget, alongside Romualdez, former Senate president Chiz Escudero, and then senator Grace Poe.

Earlier, Puno claimed that the small committee held several meetings to finalize the 2025 budget, but Romualdez and Poe were no-shows, leaving Escudero and Co as the only attendees who “penciled in whatever needed to be penciled in.”