Malacañang on Tuesday pressed resigned Ako Bicol party-list Representative Zaldy Co to confront the accusations linking him to questionable flood control projects.
In a Palace briefing, Press Officer Undersecretary Atty. Claire Castro said the lawmaker should not evade scrutiny. “Mas mainam na maipaliwanag ang kanyang side,” Castro stressed, adding that Co could not simply escape accountability. “Kung magkakaroon man siya ng kasong maisasampa, hindi po niya ito maiiwasan. Hindi po niya ito matatakbuhan. So, mas maganda po rito kung siya man po ay masasampahan ng kaso, ipaglaban na lang niya ang kanyang karapatan at ipaglaban ang katotohanan nang naaayon sa kanyang mga ebidensya.”
Castro further noted that silence would only cast doubt. “Definitely dapat niya po itong sagutin, dahil kung hindi niya po ito masasagot at iiwasan niya, lalabas lamang po siyang guilty,” she said.
Co resigned from the House of Representatives on Monday amid mounting allegations of corruption tied to flood control projects and budget insertions. In his resignation letter to Speaker Faustino “Bojie” Dy III, dated September 29, Co maintained that the accusations were false. “All I can tell you now is that the accusations being made against me are false. In due time, I will give my statements on the matter. At present, I can only stay silent to protect my family and myself. We are in grave danger,” he wrote.
His resignation followed a recommendation by the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) to the Ombudsman to consider graft, malversation, and falsification charges against him and Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) officials in Oriental Mindoro. The case stemmed from the ₱289.5 million road dike project along the Mag-Asawang Tubig River in Naujan, Oriental Mindoro, which the DPWH implemented through contractor Sunwest Inc., a company said to have ties to Co.
While denying any personal gain from government projects, Co earlier vowed to return to the country to clear his name. Meanwhile, the DPWH has requested the Anti-Money Laundering Council to freeze ₱4.3 billion worth of air assets owned by Co and his family as part of a wider probe into allegedly ill-gotten properties connected to the flood control controversy.
