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

Laurel said former Congressman Zaldy Co’s claims were part of a pattern of misleading accusations designed to deflect attention from Co’s mounting legal troubles over a controversial flood control project.

The secretary said he was studying the possibility of filing a cyberlibel case against Co for spreading false information online.

“These are fabricated lies. The First Lady has never meddled in DA matters,” he said.

He dismissed rumors linking Martin Araneta, the First Lady’s brother, to the importation of onions. “In my two years as secretary of agriculture, he has never made a single importation request — unlike Zaldy Co,” Laurel said.

Laurel traced the 2023 price surge in onions 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, the prices would not have shot up like that. And no sensible businessman would hoard onions at the peak of a price spike,” he said.

Laurel also recounted Co’s attempts to influence key commodity allocations. In March 2024, he said Co invited him to Makati City to introduce a sugar importer requesting an allocation of 200,000 metric tons (MT).

“I was shocked by the size of the request,” Laurel said, adding that he consulted Sugar Regulatory Administration head Pablo Azcona. 

‘Resentment’

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.

Laurel also belied Co’s claim that he had recommended the importation of 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 Laurel and then Finance Secretary Ralph Recto.

Regarding fish imports, 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 Wednesday against several members of the House of Representatives allegedly linked to contractors.

Those charged included Co, 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 the Independent Commission for Infrastructure would help “strengthen and speed up the progress of the case against the ‘congtractors.’”