Embattled former Ako Bicol Rep. Elizaldy Co, now subject of an arrest warrant, dropped another explosive allegation Monday, accusing President Marcos Jr. and former speaker Martin Romualdez of receiving P2 billion monthly from 2022 up to present. 

In part 4 of Co’s video expose uploaded online, the resigned lawmaker clarified that the P2 billion in monthly deliveries was on top of the P100 billion that the President “inserted” in this year’s budget, 25 percent of which allegedly went to Marcos.

Co claimed that the required P2 billion in monthly deliveries was often not fully met, resulting in the P56 billion in final total. 

The cold cash was delivered to the President and the former speaker’s residences in Forbes Park from 2022 up to this year. 

"In 2022, shortly after I assumed the post of House committee on appropriations chairman, Speaker Romualdez immediately instructed me that I needed to deliver P2 billion per month," he said in Filipino.

“Speaker Martin himself told me that the money will be split between him and the President,” he added. 

Co claimed that the recipient of the monthly deliveries for the President was Justice Undersecretary Jojo Cadiz—the only person instructed to deliver the same to Marcos’ residence. 

Daily Tribune has reached out to Romualdez’s office for comment, but received no response as of posting time.

Home for kickbacks

According to Co, the home in South Forbes Park, where the suitcases of kickbacks intended for the President were delivered, was purchased to serve as “drop-off and storage of money from SOPs, collections.” 

Co chaired the appropriations committee in the previous 19th Congress, but he did not finish his term because he resigned in January, shortly after the enactment of the 2025 General Appropriations Act, derided by critics as the “most corrupt” budget.

Soon after he became the chairman of the powerful panel, Co narrated that he was approached by former Public Works Undersecretary Roberto Bernardo through a call, about the flood crisis in Bulacan. 

Subsequently, Bernardo endorsed former Bulacan 1st district engineer Henry Alcantara to do the negotiations personally with Co, including the splitting of alleged kickbacks for every flood control project.

Co alleged that 22 percent will go to Romualdez, 2 percent to Bernardo, while Alcantara will get a 1 percent cut.

“That’s when the deliveries began,” Co said, adding that the flood control funds, once released to Alcantara’s office, will be delivered to his home in Valle Verde, Pasig, or at a parking lot in BGC, Taguig.

“In total, I personally delivered P1 billion [to Usec. Cadiz from 2 to 5 December] along with my driver and staff,” he continued. “These are all based on the direct order of Speaker Martin Romualdez. And that's how the total amount of P56 billion was delivered from 2022 to 2025.”

However, despite the massive insertions in this year’s budget and the delivery of P1 billion in early December, Co said he was informed by Cadiz that the President is still upset.

In his previous videos, Co admitted that he inserted P100 billion in the national budget, but was only made to do so in compliance with Marcos’ directive.

Part 3 of his purported expose also alleged that Marcos and Romualdez, who are cousins, received P56 billion in flood control kickbacks. 

He also showed digital shots of nearly 300 suitcases allegedly delivered to Marcos and Romualdez from January 2024 to May of this year, with the biggest chunk of cash at P1 billion delivered on 3 June and 2 October 2024 to a certain “RR.” 

In response, Marcos said he “won’t dignify” Co’s allegations, while Romualdez reiterated that his conscience “remains clear” and that the imputations of his ex-loyal ally “do not hold water in the court of law.”

Co, who left the Philippines in July and is still hiding abroad, is now a subject of a manhunt following an arrest warrant from the Sandiganbayan involving a P289.5-million flood control project in Oriental Mindoro. 

The project in question was awarded to Sunwest Inc., an Albay-based construction firm reportedly owned by Co.

The former lawmaker reiterated that he never received P21 billion in kickbacks, claiming that the money was just passed through him and that he was just a mere informant. 

P97-B insertions in 2026 budget

In the recently uploaded video, Co further alleged that Marcos also made insertions of P97 billion for flood control projects in the 2026 National Expenditure Program—the endorsed budget submitted by the President to Congress for approval. 

Next year’s budget is pegged at P6.793 trillion, making it the highest budget if ever approved by Congress. 

The House of Representatives’ approved version of the budget bill retained the P243 billion in unprogrammed appropriations (UA), the so-called standby funds, where infrastructure projects, including anti-flood, are charged. 

In 2023 and 2024, a whopping P141 billion was reportedly charged to the UA to bankroll flood control projects, which have now been at the center of a sweeping corruption probe involving members of Congress, DPWH officials, and private contractors.