Former Ako Bicol Party-list representative Zaldy Co accused President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., former Speaker Martin Romualdez, and senior budget officials of ordering him to insert P100 billion worth of projects into the 2025 national budget, claiming they later threatened him and attempted to silence him.
Co said he left the country on July 19, 2025 for a medical check-up and planned to return after the President’s SONA. But he claimed Romualdez stopped him from coming home.
“He told me, ‘Stay out of the country. You will be well taken care of as instructed by the President,’” Co said in his video statement posted on his Facebook page on Friday, November 14.
Co alleged that Budget Secretary Amenah “Mina” Pangandaman initiated the insertion scheme during the 2024 bicameral conference committee deliberations.
“Secretary Mina Pangandaman told me the President instructed us to insert P100 billion worth of projects into the BICAM,” Co said. “She told me to confirm it with Usec. Adrian Bersamin because they had just come from a meeting with the President.”
Co said Bersamin confirmed the order. He added that Bersamin later handed him a printed list of the P100-billion projects.
“He told me the list came directly from President Marcos and pulled it out of a brown leather bag,” Co said.
Co recalled seeing the same bag during a 2022 Singapore trip with Marcos and Romualdez.
“President Marcos told PSG, ‘You can leave everything not just the brown leather bag,’ so I believed the instruction was real,” he said.
Co also claimed that Pangandaman pressured him again a day later.
“She said the President wanted the projects inserted because Speaker Martin already promised it,” he said.“ She added, ‘The order of the King cannot be defied.’”
He said Romualdez told him they had no choice but to follow the instructions.
Co said that after a few days, he informed formerRomualdez, Pangandaman, Bersamin, and Undersecretary Jojo Cadiz that only P50 billion could be inserted into the program funds, noting that the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) budget would “end up exceeding” that of the Department of Education.
He pointed out that the DPWH budget “cannot be higher” than the education budget.
He added that the remaining P50 billion was supposed to go under unprogrammed appropriations for the 2025 budget because the Office of the President “controls the release” of those funds.
Turncoat
Co claimed the administration later attempted to pin the controversy on him.
“The administration used the government’s full resources to silence me,” he said. “They told me he would shoot me if I talked and that they would use me as a scapegoat in their anti-corruption campaign.”
He said he initially stayed silent but decided to speak after realizing he was being used.
“They made me the poster boy of their lies,” Co said.
“I will not remain silent. I am releasing everything—the receipts, the evidence, and the names,” he added.
Co questioned Marcos’ public statements that he had nothing to do with the budget.
“I don’t understand why the President claims he doesn’t know the budget when every adjustment required his approval through Secretary Pangandaman,” Co said.
Malacañang, Romualdez, and the DBM have yet to issue statements responding to Co’s allegations.*
Reymund Titong is a Filipino journalist steadily building his voice in the field of news reporting, driven by a commitment to tell meaningful and relevant stories.
He serves as a correspondent for Rappler, contributes to Negros Daily Bulletin, and maintains a blog on Medium.