Malacañang dismissed the claims of former Ako Bicol party-list Rep. Zaldy Co, saying the accusations made against President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. were “pure hearsay” and a diversion from his alleged role in the multibillion-peso flood control scandal.
In separate statements, Presidential Communications Office Acting Secretary Dave Gomez and Undersecretary Claire Castro said Co should return to the Philippines, swear to his claims before proper authorities, and face the cases being prepared against him.
“These wild accusations are completely without basis and fact. All the charges leveled against the President are pure hearsay,” Gomez said in a press briefing.
“President Marcos Jr. himself exposed these flood control anomalies and has taken steps to ensure that the guilty are brought to justice, the stolen wealth recovered, and the system fixed,” he added.
Gomez said Co must return to the country and sign everything he said under oath with the proper judicial authorities.
Meanwhile, Castro accused Co of “namedropping without evidence” as pressure mounts against the former lawmaker.
“Because Zaldy Co’s world is shrinking, he needs to avoid and namedrop even without evidence,” she said.
Castro noted that evidence, testimonies, and indications of alleged unexplained wealth linked to Co placed him at the center of the probe.
“Within just three months after the President revealed the irregularities, many personalities surfaced and their alleged involvement, including former congressman Zaldy Co,” Castro stated.
Castro noted that Mr. Marcos ordered the deeper probe in his 2025 SONA, creating the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) to investigate the anomalous flood control and infrastructure projects.
“Why would he even begin a deep-dive investigation when he himself is involved in this?” she said.
“We are getting closer and closer to the truth, so those who are truly to blame are trying to divert it,” Castro added.
Moreover, Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Secretary Amenah Pangandaman also rejected insinuations involving the President in the budget process, emphasizing that all presidential directives form part of the National Expenditure Program (NEP), which undergoes public scrutiny and congressional deliberations.
“All appropriations ordered by the President are already in the National Expenditure Program. That is why it is called the President’s Budget,” Pangandaman said.
“We reject any insinuations about it. The bicam is purely under the power of the legislature. We respect and strictly follow the budget process and all our actions are aboveboard,” she added.
She explained that the executive prepares the President’s Budget and NEP over six months, and the Constitution requires the submission of the NEP to Congress within 30 days after the State of the Nation Address.
“After we submit the budget to Congress, we will have briefings,” she said.
“After that, they will deliberate. The Office of the President, the executive, has no role in the bicam,” the budget chief added.
Earlier, Co said that President Marcos and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez ordered him to insert P100-billion worth of projects into the 2025 national budget.
In a video statement from overseas, he claimed that both Mr. Marcos and Romualdez supposedly influenced the approval and funding of certain flood control projects.
