Zaldy Co proponent of P13.8 billion in budget insertions, says Tiangco
MANILA, Philippines — Rep. Toby Tiangco (Navotas City) took to the Senate on Monday, September 8, to accuse fellow House of Representatives lawmaker Rep. Zaldy Co (Ako Bicol) of overseeing the insertion of up to P13.8 billion in the 2025 national budget.
Several congressional districts saw exorbitant increases in their budget. Tiangco alleged that Co — then-House appropriations chairperson — served as the alleged proponent of these insertions.
Some of these insertions were made in Abra, Bukidnon, Sarangani, and Oriental Mindoro, among others. Many of them were flood control projects.
The Navotas lawmaker, however, stopped short of naming the representatives of the districts involved, saying some may have received additional funds without their knowledge.
He explained that he had approached several lawmakers about the insertions, and they claimed that they knew nothing about it.
“Sabi nila, ‘hindi amin yan, hindi namin request yan’,” Tiangco recounted. (They said ‘that’s not ours, we did not request that’.)
Tiangco also alleged that during the bicam, at least two partylists had inflated their allotted budget from an average of P100 million to more than P2 billion. The partylists? Ako Bicol Political Party and BHW Partylist, represented by Zaldy Co and his niece, Angelica Natasha Co, respectively.
Local level
At the same hearing, Oriental Mindoro Governor Humerlito Dolor spoke about the faulty flood control projects in his province, saying that for a number of them, the Department of Public Works and Highways and the contractors did not consult them.
Dolor recounted that in 2023, there was the construction of a flood control project that did not match the plans that were given to them.
The flood control project collapsed the following year.
The contractor? Sunwest Inc. — the contractor that Zaldy Co has alleged ties to.
Dolor also said that several other infrastructure projects were substandard yet overpriced.
For example, a flood control project designated that sheet piles should burrow at least 12 meters into the ground. The actual construction revealed that it was only installed three meters deep.
One of the ghost projects was a dike in Barangay Apitong, Naujan, Oriental Mindoro, a project of Elite General Contractor And Development Corp.
Another alleged ghost project is a flood control structure in Barangay Buong Lupa, Gloria, whose contractor is St. Timothy Construction Corp.
Both Elite and St. Timothy are owned by the Discayas.
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