First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos and her family have never meddled in Department of Agriculture (DA) matters, Agriculture Secretary Francisco P. Tiu Laurel Jr. assured on Thursday, as he dismissed recent corruption allegations as “fabricated lies.”

At a press conference on Thursday, Tiu Laurel said former congressman Zaldy Co’s claims target to deflect attention from his mounting legal troubles over a controversial flood-control project. 

The secretary added that he is studying the possibility of filing a cyber libel case against Co for spreading false information online.

“These are fabricated lies. The First Lady has never meddled in DA matters,” he said, with Quintacom co-chair and House agriculture committee chair Rep. Mark Enverga describing Co’s narrative as “illogical and absurd.”

He dismissed rumors linking Martin Araneta, the First Lady’s brother, to onion importation. 

“In my two years as Secretary of Agriculture, he has never made a single importation request—unlike Zaldy Co,” he added.

Tiu Laurel traced the 2023 price surge to supply-and-demand gaps dating back to October 2022, when urgent importation recommendations went unacted upon. Prices eventually hit P700 per kilo. 

“If large-scale smuggling had happened then, prices would not have shot up like that. And no sensible businessman would hoard onions at the peak of a price spike,” he said.

Tiu Laurel also recounted Co’s attempts to influence key commodity allocations. In March 2024, Co invited him to Makati City to introduce a sugar importer requesting 200,000 MT. 

“I was shocked by the size of the request,” Tiu Laurel said, noting that he consulted Sugar Regulatory Administration head Pablo Azcona. The DA later issued Sugar Order No. 2, a revamped allocation system to curb favoritism. “That order became the basis for rejecting the request,” he said.

Tiu Laurel also rejected Co’s claim that he recommended importing 13 million MT of rice in 2024. “That volume would kill our farmers—it equals 20 million MT of palay, our entire national production,” he said. Co had instead pushed for a zero-percent tariff on rice imports, a proposal rejected by both Tiu Laurel and then-Finance Secretary Ralph Recto.

Regarding fish imports, Tiu Laurel said Co sought allocations covering 3,000 containers for his nominated companies, which he denied under the DA’s new transparent system. “After refusing him twice, I felt his resentment. He began undermining me,” he said.

In a separate development, Public Works and Highways Secretary Vince Dizon urged Co to return to the Philippines and face allegations related to ghost and substandard flood control projects.

“This is anyone’s test: will he [Zaldy Co] come home or not? If he comes home, then as the President said, we can face each other. Come home, face the music,” Dizon said.

The DPWH filed new cases of plunder, graft, and bribery on Wednesday against several members of the House of Representatives allegedly linked to contractors. 

Aside from Co, those involved include Rep. Edwin Gardiola, Rep. James Ang Jr., Rep. Jernie Jett Nisay, Rep. Augustina Pancho, Rep. Joseph Lara, Rep. Noel Rivera, and Rep. Francisco Matugas.

Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla said the evidence provided by the DPWH and ICI would help “strengthen and speed up the progress of the case against the ‘Contractors.’”