FORMER House Committee on Appropriations chairperson and Ako Bicol Rep. Zaldy Co on Friday claimed that President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. was behind the insertion of ?100 billion worth of projects into the national budget during the bicameral conference committee. He said he now fears for his life, claiming he has been threatened to stay silent.
Co, in ‘Part 1’ of the video statement, claimed that the instructions to ‘insert ?100 billion worth of projects in the Bicam’ came directly from the President.
‘I hope they won’t kill me before I release everything . . . . I just did what I was ordered to do, but now I’m ready to face everything,’ said Co, who made the statement without being under oath.
The timing of the video’s release was seen in some quarters as dubious, as it precedes a vaunted ‘anti-corruption rally’ next week initiated by the Iglesia ni Cristo and billed as an ‘interfaith’ initiative with other churches and sects.
The release to reporters of the video also happened just as the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee was holding its first major hearing in weeks, since Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson reassumed the post as BRC chairman.
On Thursday, Lacson had declared that he was ruling out any Zoom testimony by Co, saying thatn allowing him to participate virtually might give him a platform to dish out testimony of no probative value – or worse, containing propaganda, without him facing the risk of being cited in contempt and detained by the Senate.
Warned he would be ‘shot’
Co claimed that the administration is ‘using all resources of the country to silence’ him and that he had been warned he would be ‘shot’ if he spoke publicly. He did not state who gave the warning.
Co, who has been outside the Philippines since July 19, 2025, for medical reasons, said he initially complied with an order to stay abroad.
According to him, former speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez called him while he was on his way home, saying, ‘Stay out of the country. You will be well taken care of as instructed by the President.’
Co said he believed the instructions at the time, but later realized he was being positioned as a ‘poster boy’ for the administration’s anti-corruption campaign.
Co repeatedly said he is ready to release documents.
‘There is a receipt, there is evidence, and there is a name . . . I will expose all the truth,’ he said, speaking partly in Filipino.
Budget chief’s role
He recounted that Budget Secretary Amenah ‘Mina’ Pangandaman supposedly informed him in 2024 that the order to insert ?100 billion in the Bicam budget came after a meeting with the President. The secretary allegedly told him to confirm the information with Undersecretary Adrian Bersamin.
Co claimed he later spoke to Bersamin, who confirmed that the President issued the directive.
Shortly after, Co said he reported the matter to Romualdez, who allegedly responded: ‘What the President wants, he gets.’
Co also claimed that a meeting took place at the Aguado Building near Malacañang, attended by Pangandaman, Bersamin, Usec. Jojo Cadiz, and Romualdez. During that meeting, Bersamin allegedly handed him a list of projects amounting to ?100 billion.
When he asked where the list originated, Co said Bersamin replied, ‘It came from President BBM himself . . . from the brown leather bag.’
To explain why he believed Bersamin’s remark, Co referenced an incident in 2022 in Singapore where the President allegedly emphasized the importance of this bag, saying, ‘Everything can be left behind, except the brown leather bag.’
Co claimed that officials later agreed to allocate only ?50 billion to program funds because the DPWH budget could not exceed the Department of Education’s allocation. The remaining ?50 billion, he said, would be placed under unprogrammed funds-under the control of the Office of the President.
The next day, Co said Pangandaman relayed another message: ‘Put that in because it was promised to me by Speaker Martin, and it cannot be changed.’
Co said he asked Romualdez for clearance, and the latter allegedly replied, ‘nothing can be done.’
Co questioned the President’s public statements claiming he had no knowledge of the budget adjustments.
‘That is why I wonder why the President is saying that he does not know the budget while all that was reduced and added to the government agencies are asking for approval from him, Sec. Mina Pangandaman,’ he added.
Co concluded by saying he is breaking his silence because he can no longer allow himself to be used as cover for alleged corruption.
Amid the ballooning flood control scandal that has triggered the largest anti-government protests in years, Co has emerged as the central figure absorbing much of the public and political backlash.