In a firm response to the fresh allegations raised by former Ako Bicol Partylist Representative Zaldy Co, Malacañang labeled his second tell-all video as nothing more than a repeat of previously debunked claims.
According to Presidential Communications Office (PCO) Acting Secretary Dave Gomez, Co’s latest statements merely recycle unverified accusations without presenting substantive proof to support them.
“We may begin to sound like a broken record. What he is saying is a bunch of hearsay. Sabi nito, sabi ni ano,” Gomez told reporters on Saturday, November 15.
He added, “Hindi nag rewrite ng script sa second video kahit na kanal na yung una.”
Gomez emphasized that the administration is standing firm on its challenge to Co, who left the country weeks after being implicated as a central figure in a multibillion-peso flood control scam involving alleged anomalous bidding, ghost projects, and kickbacks coursed through contractors and officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
“We continue to issue the same challenge. Come home, sign these under oath and face the music,” Gomez said.
In the second installment of his exposé on supposed irregularities in the 2025 national budget, Co claimed that President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. allegedly received ₱25 billion in “SOP” or kickbacks from the ₱100 billion in budget insertions supposedly being requested by the President.
These assertions contradict Co’s earlier denial of the testimony of his former aide, Orly Guteza, before the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee regarding the alleged deliveries of bags of cash to the residence of former House Speaker and Leyte 1st District Representative Ferdinand Martin Romualdez in Forbes Park, Makati, and to Aguado Street inside the Malacañang compound in Manila.
Co further claimed that the deliveries also reached the residence of President Marcos, and that he personally delivered the money along with his executive assistants, John Paul Estrada and Mark Ticsay.