By Noriko Yamamoto

In a video uploaded on his Facebook page on Friday, November 14, former congressman and House appropriations committee chair Elizaldy “Zaldy” Co explained his role in the flood control projects controversy, citing the involvement of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman, and then-House Speaker Martin Romualdez.

He stated that the President directed him to insert P100 billion worth of projects into the 2025 national budget through Pangandaman and Romualdez. 

Co said Pangandaman relayed the supposed instructions at the start of the bicameral conference in 2024, which he later confirmed with Undersecretary Adrian Bersamin.

He recounted that after verifying the directive, he immediately called Romualdez, who allegedly replied, “What the President wants, he gets.”

According to Co, the government has been using its influence and resources to prevent him from speaking out, but he decided to disclose what he knows.

He revealed that Pangandaman later arranged a meeting with him, Romualdez, and two undersecretaries at the Aguado Building inside Malacañang, where a list of projects worth P100 billion was handed to him.

Documents released by Co’s office showed that more than P81 billion of the alleged insertions were allocated to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

The remaining P18.7 billion, he said, was distributed among the Office of the President (OP), the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA), the National Electrification Administration (NEA), the National Housing Authority (NHA), and the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT).

Co explained that he suggested splitting the insertion into P50 billion in programmed funds and P50 billion in unprogrammed appropriations to avoid violating the constitutional requirement that education receive the largest share of the budget.

However, he said that Pangandaman rejected the proposal, citing Marcos’ instructions that the projects must be inserted as promised by Romualdez.

Co quoted Romualdez as saying, “Wala tayong magagawa,” after he sought clearance on the President’s supposed directive.

He questioned why Marcos denied knowledge of the budget, insisting that Pangandaman sought the President’s approval for all changes in agency allocations.

Co also revealed that he left the country in July for medical reasons and had planned to return after Marcos’ State of the Nation Address (SONA).

He added that Romualdez told him in a phone call, “Stay out of the country. You will be well taken care of as instructed by the President.”
Additionally, on Tuesday, November 11, the House of Representatives and other government agencies were urged to withhold the issuance of clearances related to his pending investigations into the flood control controversy.