Speaker Bojie Dy on Tuesday reiterated his call for embattled former colleague Elizaldy Co to come home and present and substantiate his kickback allegations against President Marcos Jr. and former speaker Martin Romualdez, assuring him that authorities will guarantee his safety if necessary.

“A video from abroad is not enough. When the allegations are grave, the commitment to stand by them must be equally serious. He must appear in person, take an oath, and present evidence to authorities like ICI (Independent Commission for Infrastructure),” Dy said in Filipino.

Co secured one of the seats won by the Ako Bicol Partylist in the current 20th Congress but resigned in late September following an ultimatum from Dy to return to the Philippines to face the widening probe into anomalies in flood control projects and his role in alleged budget insertions.

Co has been headstrong in his refusal to return to the Philippines despite ultimatums and subpoenas, citing serious threats to his life and family.

The Speaker and the Ombudsman have pledged to secure his safety in exchange for his return.

Co has made damning accusations against Marcos and Romualdez, claiming they received P56 billion in purported kickbacks from P100 billion in alleged insertions in the 2025 General Appropriations Act.

Co alleged that Marcos was the architect behind the insertions, receiving a P25 billion cut. He claimed that he only complied with the President’s marching order but did not receive a cent from the insertions.

In a three-part video uploaded to his Facebook page, Co showed nearly 300 suitcases stuffed with cash that were allegedly delivered to the President at Malacañang and to former speaker Romualdez’s residence in Forbes Park from January 2024 to May of this year.

However, Dy said accusations alone are not enough to believe Co unless he heeds calls to return to the country, swears an oath, and coordinates with concerned authorities, including the ICI—the fact-finding body created to comprehensively probe the corruption scheme in the flood control projects.

Dy maintained that there is no excuse for Co to insist on staying abroad and to refrain from submitting himself to investigative bodies when all members of the House who are also being implicated in the flood control scandal have turned themselves in to the ICI and continue to coordinate with the ongoing probe.

“This is the clear difference: while others confront the issue head-on, former Rep. Co has been evasive. Instead of helping shed light on the issue, he has only added to the public’s confusion,” Dy said in Filipino.

The revocation of Co’s travel clearance on the orders of the then newly minted Speaker Dy had led to Co’s resignation.

Co left the country for the United States to seek “medical treatment,” but critics find the timing suspicious, as it coincided with the deepening investigation into alleged multi-billion-peso flood control projects.

Co cried foul over Dy’s decision to revoke his travel clearance but maintained that he is innocent of all allegations brought against him.

A review of the list of flood control projects on the “Sumbong sa Pangulo” website showed that Sunwest had secured nearly 80 projects from 07 July 2022 to 01 May 2025, amounting to around P10 billion.

Co claimed he had long divested from the construction firm when he entered Congress in 2019, but official documents stated otherwise.

Co is facing multiple corruption charges linked to the flood control anomalies, including graft and malversation of public funds involving the alleged anomalous P289 million anti-flood project in Oriental Mindoro, the first flood control case filed before the Sandiganbayan.