Up to 60 suitcases seen at Zaldy’s units by ex-aides

MANILA, Philippines — Despite maintaining they had “no personal knowledge” of the contents, two police officers who previously worked as security staff of fugitive former Ako Bicol party-list congressman Zaldy Co claimed they saw up to 60 suitcases delivered to his two units at a high-end residential building in Taguig City.

During the hearing on former House speaker and Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez’s bail petition before the Sandiganbayan Third Division yesterday, Chief M/Sgt. Larry Zymon Bellen and Maj. Alvin Nuguid testified about the suitcases they saw while assigned to Co’s security detail.

Bellen worked with Co for eight years as an executive assistant and close-in security officer, while Nuguid served as security officer from March 2024 to July 2025.

Bellen recalled that he was among the close-in security personnel who brought trolleys carrying three to four suitcases to Co’s two units on the 56th floor of Horizon Homes at Bonifacio Global City in Taguig City twice a month.

He also said he saw suitcases lined up beneath a private jet allegedly owned by Co at a hangar in Pasay City.

Bellen further claimed that Romualdez convinced Co to become a nominee of the Ako Bicol party-list while Co and his wife, Mylene, were having a meal.

Nuguid, meanwhile, testified that he saw around 50 to 60 suitcases pass by Co’s residential units from May 2024, after completing his three-month schooling, until his tenure ended in July 2025.

He said he also heard Co’s fellow security personnel, including former Marine members, joke that “there was money in the trash.” Executive assistants would likewise inform him about “special tasking” from Co.

Nuguid said he was able to confirm the consistency of the rumors among security personnel only after Co released a video implicating Romualdez in the flood control scandal.

In the video, Co accused Romualdez of receiving kickbacks delivered in suitcases.

When the Sandiganbayan justices asked what the suitcases might have contained, both Bellen and Nuguid repeatedly maintained that they had no personal knowledge of their contents.

‘Hearsay’

The defense objected to portions of the officers’ testimonies, particularly their accounts of the suitcase deliveries and Romualdez’s alleged role in persuading Co to join the party-list, arguing that the statements were hearsay because they were based partly on what they had heard from others.

Defense lawyer Via Valdepeñas pointed out that the officers had no firsthand knowledge that the suitcases they saw contained cash or that Romualdez was involved in the supposed transactions.

Nuguid testified that he had accompanied Co to several locations, including a townhouse at the Manila Polo Club, McKinley Road in Forbes Park, 30 Tamarind and Aguado Street.

However, he admitted under questioning by Valdepeñas and the anti-graft court justices that he had never accompanied any alleged cash deliveries or witnessed money being transported to these locations.

Although he had seen suitcases, or maletas, Nuguid said he did not know what they contained, where they had been purchased or where they were supposed to go.

He also confirmed that he had never seen suitcases inside Co’s vehicle, except when Co was traveling.

Bellen likewise admitted that he had no personal knowledge of whether the suitcases contained cash, saying his information about their alleged contents came from what other people had told him.