Presidential Communications Office (PCO) Acting Secretary Dave Gomez on Saturday once again challenged resigned Ako Bicol Rep. Zaldy Co to return to the Philippines and ‘face the music.’
Gomez’s statement, this time, was in response to Co’s ‘part two’ of his video statement, where he claimed that he never received any amount from budget insertions in the 2025 national budget, alleging instead that all the money went to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez.
‘We continue to issue the same challenge. Come home, sign these under oath, and face the music,’ Gomez said in a Viber message to reporters.
The PCO secretary reiterated that Co’s allegations were without basis.
‘We may begin to sound like a broken record. What he is saying is a bunch of hearsay. He said this, he said that,’ Gomez said, speaking in Filipino.
‘He didn’t rewrite the script for the second video even though the first one was already a gutter,’ he added.
On Friday, Gomez, in a Palace press briefing, likewise reacted to ‘part one’ of Co’s video statement, which accused Marcos of allegedly ordering the insertion of at least P100 billion in the 2025 national budget.
Gomez described Co’s remarks as ‘wild accusations,’ adding that ‘all the charges leveled against the President are pure hearsay.’
Co is currently implicated in the flood control corruption scandal in connection with the projects of Sunwest Inc., a construction firm linked to him.
Earlier, Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla said his office is set to file a case before the Sandiganbayan, possibly next week, against Co and other personalities over the P289.5-million flood control project in Naujan, Oriental Mindoro.