After Rep. Elizaldy Co resigned, the House lost its jurisdiction over the ethics complaint filed against him, House Speaker Bojie Dy confirmed on Monday, September 29.
‘Since nag-resign na si Congressman Zaldy Co, wala nang ika nga karapatan ang Kongreso para maimbitahan siya at maanyayahan para umattend sa committee on ethics,’ Dy said in a press conference on September 29.
(Since Congressman Zaldy Co has already resigned, Congress no longer has the authority, so to speak, to summon or invite him to attend the committee on ethics.)
Rep. Toby Tiangco, who filed the ethics complaint, alleged that Co manipulated the 2025 budget as appropriations chair, flaunted his wealth and violated conflict-of-interest rules through ties to top contractor Sunwest Inc.
Dy and ethics committee chair Rep. JC Abalos (4Ps Party-list) explained that the House could only hold accountable its own members in ethics complaints filed.
With the ethics complaint against Co now moot, Dy said it is up to the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) to pursue any cases that could hold him accountable.
‘Ang tingin namin dito, bahala na ang Department of Justice, at ganu’n din ang ICI kung anong pwede nilang ipataw,’ he said. (Our view is that it’s up to the Department of Justice, as well as the ICI, to decide what they can impose.)
Abalos, on the other hand, explained that the committee’s internal rules limit its jurisdiction to matters concerning the duties, conduct, rights, immunities, reputation and integrity of the House and its members.
He, however, stressed that the ethics committee still urges Co to face the cases he may be up against, given the charges already recommended by the ICI and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).
According to Dy, the House was prepared to wait until midnight before taking its next steps – suspending Co if he failed to return to the Philippines by the deadline set after his travel clearance was revoked.
The House speaker also pointed out that Co requested clearance for a personal leave instead of medical leave, but with no medical certificate provided, the application lacked sufficient basis.
Co managed to preempt the suspension by submitting his resignation, which was received at around 2:35 p.m.
Despite his resignation, Dy said Co must still be brought back to the country by all means possible to face accountability for corruption allegations, including claims he received kickbacks from infrastructure projects.
Co, however, has since expressed his dismay over the House’s decision to revoke his travel clearance and the ethics complaint filed, calling all the allegations baseless.
In the ICI’s first report, Co was named among the high-profile personalities who should face criminal charges over irregularities found in a P289-million flood control project in Oriental Mindoro.
The independent body found that Sunwest was the contractor, a firm Co co-founded but divested from in 2019.
Meanwhile, the NBI recommended bribery and malversation charges against Co and several other lawmakers for the alleged kickback scheme uncovered from its case build-up.
The Department of Public Works and Highways and the DOJ have already requested the Anti-Money Laundering Council to freeze Co’s assets amid ongoing investigations. To track his movements, authorities have requested a blue notice from Interpol and placed him under an immigration lookout bulletin order.