Senator Bam Aquino has called on former ako Bicol Rep. Zaldy Co to return to the Philippines and formally place his allegations under oath, urging him to fully disclose what he knows about anomalous flood control projects and controversial budget insertions.
“I echo what the Church and many groups are saying that he should come home,” Aquino said, referring to Co, who recently posted a three-part video claiming that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez received kickbacks from P100-billion insertions in the 2025 budget.
“Come home, face the DOJ [Department of Justice], face the ICI [Independent Commission for Infrastructure], face the Blue Ribbon, be under oath, and tell all, basically,” Aquino added.
Aquino stressed that everyone involved in the anomalous projects must be held accountable, stolen funds must be recovered, and systemic reforms must prevent a repeat of such corruption.
“Who really is involved? They must be jailed. Hopefully, sooner rather than later, the money. That’s over a trillion pesos over the past few years that have gone, must be recovered. There must be a serious attempt to get back that money,” the senator said.
He also called for reforms to prevent future abuses, warning that the system cannot allow repeated exploitation.
In addition, Aquino pressed for the passage of his Senate Bill No. 1506, the Citizen Access and Disclosure of Expenditures for National Accountability (CADENA) Act, designed to increase transparency in government spending.
Under the proposed law, all government agencies would be required to upload and maintain budget-related documents, including contracts, project costs, bills of materials, and procurement details, on a Digital Budget Platform accessible to the public.
Officials who fail to disclose documents or upload false information would face both administrative and criminal penalties.
“We are putting teeth into the CADENA Act. Agencies failing to publish documents within seven days will face administrative penalties. If, after 30 days the documents are still not public, it becomes a criminal offense,” Aquino said during his sponsorship speech.
“Anyone who uploads false or misleading budget information can be jailed. This provision ensures that the CADENA system works properly — no garbage in, no garbage out. There is no escape,” he added.