Sandro inserted P50B

Fugitive legislator Elizaldy Co dropped another bombshell in the fifth installment of his exposé on the plunder of public funds, this time implicating House Majority Leader Sandro Marcos, the eldest son of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

Co alleged that the younger Marcos funneled more than P50 billion worth of projects into the national budget from 2023 to the present.

Co also doubled down on his kickback accusations against the President, claiming that another P97 billion in alleged insertions was ordered by the Chief Executive in the 2026 national budget, which resulted in a massive cut in funding for the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

According to Co, the P97 billion was on top of the P100 billion in projects “inserted” by the President in this year’s budget, 25 percent of which allegedly went straight to Marcos as his supposed cut.

The DPWH’s allocation for 2026 was initially set at P881.3 billion, but the House of Representatives realigned P255 billion worth of locally funded flood control projects to other programs, leaving the department with only P625.7 billion. 

A Senate panel further reduced the DPWH’s budget for next year to P568.56 billion. However, this is not yet final, as it must be approved in the plenary and subsequently in the bicameral conference committee.

In the fifth installment of Co’s exposé uploaded online on Tuesday, the former House committee on appropriations chairman alleged that the House no longer allowed Marcos to insert another P97 billion for flood control projects in the 2026 National Expenditure Program (NEP).

The NEP is the President’s proposed budget, submitted by the Department of Budget and Management to Congress for approval. It serves as the basis for the annual budget bill, which becomes the General Appropriations Act when enacted.

Co claimed he learned about the President’s insertion plan from former DPWH Secretary Manuel Bonoan during a meeting at a house in South Forbes Park, which was allegedly purchased to be used as a “drop-off and storage point for money from SOPs and collections” for Marcos. 

“This was confirmed by Bonoan, who said that the President had given instructions to insert another hundred billion in the President’s budget,” Co said in the video in Filipino. 

“So when the House discovered the insertions in the 2026 budget for flood control, we returned the DPWH NEP 2026 because it was already wrong, and had another set of flood control projects,” he continued. 

In the fifth part of his video exposé, uploaded online on Tuesday, Co alleged that Rep. Marcos inserted P9.636 billion into the 2023 General Appropriations Act (GAA), the first annual budget drafted and enacted by the administration of President Marcos Jr., the lawmaker’s father. 

Co claimed that the insertions subsequently grew in the years that followed, alleging that Rep. Marcos inserted P20.174 billion and P21.127 billion in the 2024 and 2025 GAAs, respectively.

“All in all, the total [insertions] was P50.938 billion. And every year, during the bicameral conference committee budget process, Congressman Sandro always had an order to include his projects,” Co said in the video.

Tantrum over kickbacks 

Co alleged that Rep. Marcos once went ballistic after his requested insertions were not accommodated entirely in this year’s budget, which purportedly led to Co’s ouster as the committee chairperson.

“I just found out from the contractors that he was very angry with me when the 2025 GAA budget was being discussed. I was told that (Rep. Marcos) would have me removed and had threatened to file multiple cases against me because the insertion he wanted was short by P8 billion,” he claimed.

Co continued, “The alleged reason was that there were contractors who had already advanced payments to him, and because the full amount was not included, he had to return it to them.” 

DDS champion

Rep. Marcos was quick to debunk Co’s allegations, asserting that his imputations were a veiled attempt to destabilize the administration and draw support from Duterte loyalists in hopes that he would be “absolved of his own crimes.”

“The statements from the newly crowned champion of the DDS cabal, former Congressman Elizaldy Co, are frankly as fantastic as they are false,” Rep. Marcos retorted, adding that Co had “no credibility,” much less as a “truth crusader.”

He contended that Co’s alleged misdeeds cost him the chairmanship and that his removal was not a decision made by a single individual but a consensus reached by the majority of the appropriations panel.

Sandro vs Zaldy

“Zaldy Co was removed as appropriations chairman because members caught wind of his insatiable greed and corruption, not because of the whim of any individual. The ‘sagasa’ (run over) that he orchestrated in certain districts, such as Bulacan and other municipalities, speaks for itself,” Rep. Marcos added. 

Co spearheaded the budget process in the previous 19th Congress as the appropriations panel head. Still, he did not complete his three-year term because he resigned in January, shortly after the enactment of the 2025 GAA, which was marred by alleged corruption.

It was Rep. Marcos who moved to declare Co’s position vacant, which was subsequently approved by then House speaker Martin Romualdez, his uncle, on the floor.

At the time, the only reason cited by Co for “stepping down” was “pressing medical concerns.”

Co won his third consecutive term and secured one of the seats won by the Ako Bicol Party-list in the current 20th Congress. He also resigned in late September following the revocation of his travel authority and an ultimatum from new House Speaker Bojie Dy to return to the country amid his alleged involvement in the budget fiasco and flood control scandal. 

He left the Philippines in July and is still in hiding abroad despite subpoenas and an arrest warrant issued by the Sandiganbayan over a P289.5-million “grossly substandard” flood control project in Oriental Mindoro awarded to Sunwest Inc., an Albay-based construction firm reportedly owned by the former lawmaker. 

Co has remained headstrong about staying abroad, citing serious threats to his security. 

Earlier, he said Romualdez threatened to “shoot me if I talk” and that the administration has plans to tag him as a “terrorist” as a result of his revelations linking the former speaker and the President to the alleged budget anomalies, such as receiving suspected kickbacks from the P100 billion in insertions in this year’s budget. 

Both Marcos and Romualdez downplayed the allegations.

Puno questions DPWH allocations

In late August, House Deputy Speaker Ronaldo Puno flagged the DPWH’s budget, claiming that funds went to flood control projects that had already been completed, while ongoing and priority programs received zero allocation. 

Puno said the most glaring example was the alleged uniform amounts of P73 million to P93 million, all meant to bankroll anti-flood projects, outlined in a single page of the NEP.

The House leader was not convinced that these “red flags” slipped through the DBM, suggesting that the agency may be complicit with the DPWH, which has been at the center of corruption allegations involving the multi-billion-peso flood control projects.

Eventually, this led the DPWH to incur a deep cut of P255 billion to its 2026 budget under the House-approved GAB. 

President Marcos has dismissed Co’s allegations as “nothing” and dared him to return to the country and say it to his face. 

However, Co countered that Marcos could no longer “wash his hands” or “point fingers as if he is innocent,” contending that he personally spoke with Malacañang officials, whom Marcos allegedly instructed to negotiate with Co involving the P100-billion insertions.

In the first part of Co’s video exposé, he said he was informed by then Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Secretary Amenah Pangandaman about the President’s alleged intent to insert P100 billion in this year’s budget, and that he could confirm it with then Presidential Legislative Liaison Office Undersecretary Adrian Bersamin.

Further, Co alleged that Marcos personally spoke to him during a meeting with former Speaker Romualdez and told him to refrain from meddling in his insertions. 

“Based on PBBM’s own words, it became clear to me that he personally instructed Secretary Menah Pangandaman and Undersecretary Adrian Bersamin to enter the hundred-billion worth of projects,” he said.

“So if it wasn’t true that the order came from the President, why didn’t he immediately fire Secretary Menah Pangandaman and Undersecretary Adrian Bersamin when I informed him of the P100 billion insertion through a letter?” Co continued.

Back in February, Co said he sent a “confidential” letter to Marcos, explaining that he only acted in accordance with Marcos’ orders regarding the alleged budget insertions. 

This was allegedly followed by a March meeting, arranged by Justice Undersecretary Jojo Cadiz, at 1201 Aguada Street, in front of Malacañang’s Gate 4.  

Extra P2B per month

Aside from the P100 billion in insertions, Co accused Marcos and Romualdez of receiving P2 billion per month from 2022 to the present. 

He said the cash, allegedly split between Marcos and Romualdez, was delivered by his driver and staff to the President’s and the former speaker’s residences in Forbes Park.

Romualdez has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, saying his conscience “remains clear” and that the imputations of his ex-loyal ally “do not hold water in the court of law.”

Show receipts — Pulong

Davao City Rep. Paolo “Pulong” Duterte, meanwhile, questioned what he called the disproportionate insertions and unaccounted for projects in Ilocos Norte.

In a social media post, Duterte said: “P50 billion for Sandro is just an insertion, and that doesn’t even include the NEP (National Expenditure Program) yet, which includes flood control and solar street lights, versus P49 billion for Pulong (coastal road, bypass, flyover, etc). There are no visible projects in Ilocos Norte, whereas all projects in Davao City are accounted for. Now it’s your turn to show your receipts.”