Zaldy Co begged off from participating at the resumption of the Senate blue ribbon committee inquiry into the flood control corruption scandal on Friday, supposedly for health reasons. But three hours into the hearing, the former Ako Bicol party list lawmaker who has been out of the country since July surfaced in a video on Facebook with bombshell claims against the administration.

Co alleged that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. directed him to make ₱100 billion worth of project insertions at the level of the bicameral conference committee (or bicam), which was then reconciling the Senate and the House of Representatives’ respective versions of the proposed 2025 national budget. 

He also alleged that then Speaker Martin Romualdez, Mr. Marcos’ first cousin, told him to stay out of the country at the height of the corruption scandal, promising that he would be “well taken care of as instructed by the President.”

“I did everything I was asked to do, but now I’m ready to face everything. The administration is using its entire resources to silence me. That he will shoot me if I talk,” Co said, reading from a statement in Filipino in a video uploaded on his Facebook account.

Malacanang has issued a flat denial and urged Co to return and swear to his claims.   

Co, who chaired the powerful House appropriations committee, is in the first batch of officials and lawmakers scheduled to be charged by the Office of the Ombudsman next week at the Sandiganbayan for allegedly receiving kickbacks from anomalous flood control projects.

His bombshell claims against the President and Romualdez were mentioned by Sen. Rodante Marcoleta during the committee hearing but were not discussed there. The airing of his video came ahead of the Nov.16-18 anti-corruption rallies of religious groups led by the Iglesia ni Cristo and the Kingdom of Jesus Christ of Apollo Quiboloy, who was ex-president Rodrigo Duterte’s spiritual adviser. Quiboloy is currently in jail on charges of qualified human trafficking.

‘Very important’ witness

Former public works undersecretary Roberto Bernardo made his own provocative claims at the resumption of the inquiry of the Senate blue ribbon committee led by its returning chair, Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson.

Bernardo named former senator Grace Poe, former senator and now Education Secretary Sonny Angara, and Sen. Mark Villar as having received kickbacks from anomalous flood control projects. All three have issued statements denying wrongdoing

Lacson told CoverStory in response to a question that Bernardo is the “very important” witness that he said last week he would present at the hearing.

Bernardo had earlier testified at the Senate inquiry that certain lawmakers took cuts from allocations intended for infrastructure projects. He called them “commitments” that ranged from 15% to 25% of the budget of specific projects.

Reading from a second supplemental affidavit, Bernardo said he has direct knowledge as well as records from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to substantiate his allegations against the kickback recipients. 

He said that in late 2024, a staff member of Poe he identified as J.Y. Dela Rosa requested then Public Works Secretary Manuel Bonoan through himself “if Sen. Grace Poe can be accommodated in the DPWH National Expenditure Program (NEP).” He said Bonoan told him to coordinate with a contractor, “Mrs. Patron,” who in turn told him to “prepare the bid” for the contracts.

Bernardo said Bonoan included three projects — one in Laguna and two in the National Capital Region — in the NEP through Public Works Undersecretary Cathy Cabral, and that these projects eventually appeared in the 2025 General Appropriations Act.

“There was a 20% commitment collected for Sen. Grace Poe,” Bernardo said, adding that it was Mrs. Patron who collected the commitment for Poe at a hotel in Manila from one of his aides.

Poe chaired the Senate finance committee at that time and was on top of the budget hearings in the chamber.

Other ‘transactions’

Bernardo also testified that he and Education Undersecretary Trygve Olaviar had “transactions concerning Sen. Sonny Angara” between 2019 and 2024, when “Trygve received deliveries representing 12% of the projects of [Angara] while the latter was the chairman of [the] finance” committee.

On Villar, Bernardo said he met the senator’s cousin, Carlo Aguilar, when he was DPWH assistant secretary for operations. He said funding for all projects was cleared through Cabral. 

He said Cabral would ask him to “submit a detailed list of infra projects with regard to lump sum allocations at DPWH,” which she would then approve or forward to Villar for approval. These projects included projects on Edsa and other major roads and maintenance of creeks and waterways.

“The commission for these approved projects was 10% and divided as follows: 50% to Carlo Aguilar, presumably for Sen. Mark Villar, 25% for Usec Cabral, and 25% for myself,” Bernardo said.

He also further substantiated his initial claims of kickbacks received by Senators Chiz Escudero and Jinggoy Estrada, former senators Bong Revilla and Nancy Binay, as well as Representatives Mary “Mitch” Cajayon-Uy and Florida Robles.

Bernardo’s voice broke when he mentioned Bonoan’s alleged involvement in the kickback scheme. He said he considered the latter a “mentor.”

He said that sometime in 2022, Bonoan directed him to make a list of projects worth ₱450 million for possible inclusion in the NEP for the 2023 national budget. He said he complied, and the list was forwarded to Cabral.

“Engineer [Henry] Alcantara gave 10% of the value of the projects,” he said.

According to Bernardo, Bonoan made similar instructions to him for projects worth ₱150 million in 2023 and for projects worth ₱900 million in 2024, with Alcantara giving 15% and 20% respectively of the projects’ value. He said he and Bonoan each received a percentage from these projects. 

“The value of the projects I handled for Sec Manny Bonoan was at least ₱5 billion per annum for the years 2023, 2024, and 2025, with a 15% average commitment,” he said, adding that from this 15% commitment, Bonoan usually gave him 25%, with the rest shared between Bonoan and Cabral.

Bernardo wiped away tears after making his claims on Bonoan, who recently flew to the United States. 

Sen. Erwin Tulfo asked Prosecutor General Richard Fadullon how authorities can prevent persons under investigation from leaving the country.

Fadullon said those persons who have yet to be charged can still travel abroad even if they are included in the Bureau of Immigration’s lookout bulletin. He suggested that the government speed up the filing of charges against those being investigated to stop them from departing.

‘Scapegoat’

In his FB post, Zaldy Co said he flew overseas in July for a medical checkup and had planned to return after the President’s State of the Nation Address (Sona). But Romualdez called as he was preparing to head back and told him to stay away, he claimed.

In that Sona, the President said 15 contractors had cornered multibillion-peso flood control projects that were poorly implemented or were nonexistent. “Mahiya naman kayo (Have some shame)!” he said. 

Co said the administration is using him as “a scapegoat in its campaign against corruption.” He added: “They made me a poster boy of their lies. Now, I will no longer keep silent. I will come out with the truth, with receipts, evidence, and names.” 

When the bicam was reconciling the proposed 2025 national budget in 2024, Co said, Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman told him that she had come from a meeting with the President, who had instructions for him to insert ₱100 billion worth of projects in the budget.

He said Pangandaman even told him to confirm this with Undersecretary Adrian Bersamin who, she said, was present at the meeting. Bersamin made the confirmation. 

Co went on with his narrative thus: He phoned Romualdez to convey the presidential directive, and the then Speaker told him that “what the President wants, he gets.”

Days later, Co attended a meeting at the Palace with Pangandaman. Bersamin, Romualdez, and Undersecretary Jojo Cadiz, and Bersamin handed him a list of projects worth ₱100 billion.

Bersamin told Co the list came from the President’s brown leather bag, and Co recalled that in May 2022, while in a hotel in Singapore, a member of the Presidential Security Group brought the same bag to Mr. Marcos, who said he could leave everything behind but not the bag.

Co informed Romualdez and the other officials that only ₱50 billion could be inserted in the programmed funds; otherwise, funding for the DPWH would be bigger than that for the Department of Education. He was told that the other ₱50 billion could be put in the unprogrammed funds.  

Continuing his narrative, Co said the President later told Pangandaman to insert the ₱100 billion as earlier instructed, and as Romualdez had promised to do. 

“That’s why I’m wondering why the President said he could not recognize the budget, when all the [allocations with] reductions and additions to government agencies need to get the approval of Sec Mina Pangandaman,” Co said. 

According to Co’s video, a “Part 2” is forthcoming.

Contractor couple

During the hearing, Lacson allowed the controversial contractor couple Curlee and Sarah Discaya, escorted by the Senate security, to retrieve from their home a ledger containing the names of lawmakers and officials who supposedly received kickbacks from projects bagged by their construction firms.

Curlee Discaya is in detention in the Senate for lying during the inquiry.

Upon their return in the afternoon, Curlee Discaya read out the names of six House members: Pasig City Rep. Roman Romulo, Quezon City (4th district) Rep. Marvin Rillo, Caloocan (3rd district) Rep. Dean Asistio, Quezon City (5th district) Rep. Patrick Michael Vargas, Quezon City (6th district) Rep. Marivic Co-Pilar, and Uswag Ilonggo partylist Rep. Jojo Ang. 

He also named Bernardo and former undersecretary Terence Calatrava of the Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas.

Those named are among the 17 personalities that Discaya has accused of soliciting money from him and his wife. The lawmakers and Calatrava have denied wrongdoing. 

The Discayas’ ledger, to be submitted to the blue ribbon committee, is yet incomplete.

Read more: Lost lives, lost homes, lost livelihoods