DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/November 18)– Davao City 1st District Representative Paolo Duterte has called for an inquiry, in aid of legislation, into allegations of P100 billion budget insertions in the national budget for 2025 involving President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and former Speaker Martin G. Romualdez.
Durterte filed a resolution on Tuesday, directing the appropriate committee of the lower chamber to conduct an urgent and comprehensive investigation into the grave and serious allegations of the former Ako Bicol Party-list Zaldy Co implicating Marcos and Romualdez in the alleged corruption scandal.
The resolution stated that Co made disturbing allegations through a series of video recordings, accusing the two officials of intervening during the 2025 Bicameral Conference Committee.
The two-page resolution read in part: “former Representative Zaldy Co also posted and released a detailed list of the projects with corresponding amounts and contractors of the P100-billion insertion, and that this list may necessitate a deeper investigation to shed light on the truthfulness of the former Representative’s claims.”
Last November 15, acting Presidential Communications Office secretary Dave Gomez dismissed the Co’s as a “bunch of hearsay” and challenged the former partylist representative to return home from abroad and sign his statements under oath.
“Zaldy Co should come back to the country and sign everything he said under oath with the proper judicial authorities,” he said.
Duterte’s resolution stated that the “sheer scale and detail of these allegations may not be overlooked as these disturbing disclosures also point to the interference of the Office of the President contrary to the principles of transparency and separation of powers.”
It said that Co’s claims cast serious doubts on their integrity and on the credibility of the national budget process, raising questions about “possible undue influence in the legislative budgeting process.”
One of the most significant allegations was that the President demanded a 25 percent share or “kickback, and that Co and his staff personally delivered large sums of money, placed in suitcases or “maleta” to Marcos and Romualdez, according to the resolution.
He said these claims, if true, would “constitute extraordinarily serious violations of law and public trust.”
However, Palace officials have denied Co’s allegations, calling them without basis. Malacañang also called on Co to return to the country and present his allegations in a court of law, not just in social media posts. (Antonio L. Colina IV/MindaNews)
