Former lawmaker Elizaldy Co, a central figure in the flood control scam, who was reportedly arrested in Prague, will be summoned to the next hearing of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee spearheading the exhaustive investigation into the anomaly, panel chair Ping Lacson announced Friday. 

The committee is also considering inviting Co’s alleged ex-aide, Orly Guteza, and the supposed 18 former Marines who claimed to have delivered suitcases of kickbacks to several top government officials, including members of Congress, on Co’s “orders.”

The move aims to ascertain the veracity of Co’s allegations regarding cash deliveries to President Marcos Jr. and ex-House speaker Martin Romualdez, with Lacson noting that they are “interconnected” with Guteza and the Marines’ affidavits.

“We can also invite them to [a] separate hearing, but I think it would be better if we invite Co along with the ex-soldiers who claimed to deliver P805 billion cash in suitcases. And if possible, we invite Guteza too, so we will know who is telling the truth," Lacson said in a radio interview.

Co had been subject to BRC’s show-cause order after skipping its 29 January hearing amid reports that he was hiding abroad. Lacson said the committee would seek the Sandiganbayan's permission to invite Co to the next hearing, since the ex-solon is likely to be turned over to the court’s custody once he returns to the Philippines due to his pending warrant. 

Co has been accused of being one of the architects of the alleged large-scale corruption scheme in flood control projects, being the former chairperson of the House appropriations committee, responsible for reviewing the annual national budget and allocating public funds to key projects under various agencies.

Co to help shed light on 'budget insertions'

Lacson strongly posits that the BRC’s probe could see a “major development” if Co would detail how massive budgets were “inserted” and allocated to the Department of Public Works and Highways in alleged exchange for kickbacks involving lawmakers. 

Co, an erstwhile key ally of the administration, explicitly tagged Marcos as the orchestrator of P100 billion in insertions in the graft-ridden 2025 budget. Of the amount, he alleged that the President received P25 billion in kickbacks, an allegation, Marcos said, he “won’t dignify.”

On late Thursday, local time, Marcos announced that Co was “detained in Prague after crossing into the Czech Republic without proper documentation.”

Co left the Philippines for the United States in July last year, shortly after Marcos announced plans to launch a probe into corruption in flood control projects during his State of the Nation Address.

Co repeatedly claimed he never received a cent in kickbacks and was only made to do the insertions in the national budget. 

Co’s construction firm, Sunwest Inc., was among the top 15 contractors that bagged P100 billion worth of government contracts for flood control projects, according to Marcos. 

Co has long claimed that he divested from Sunwest upon entering Congress in 2019, but government records state otherwise. 

Sunwest is also a subject of a graft and malversation case before the Sandiganbayan involving a P289.5-million flood control project in Oriental Mindoro, which was found to be “grossly substandard.”

Pangadaman, Bersamin likely to be invited, too

According to Lacson, the panel may also summon other high-profile personalities implicated in the budget anomalies. This includes former Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman and ex-Undersecretary Adrian Bersamin of the Office of the Executive Secretary, but only if Co would mention them in his testimony. 

As for the President, Lacson stressed the committee cannot compel his attendance at the hearing, citing the principle of separation of powers. Meanwhile, he said the panel can invite Romualdez despite Congress’ longstanding practice of granting its members inter-parliamentary courtesy, with the invitation coursed through the Office of the Speaker, 

Earlier this week, Lacson announced the indefinite suspension of flood control hearings pending his sponsorship of the panel's partial committee report, which still lacks signatures from majority senators.