A request to sign onto an impeachment bid against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. reached Palawan 2nd District Rep. Jose “Pepito” Alvarez on January 27, weeks before his name surfaced among officials supposedly handed cash-filled suitcases by fugitive former lawmaker Elizaldy “Zaldy” Co. Alvarez believes the two events are connected.
Speaking at the Senate on Thursday, June 4, the congressman recounted receiving a Viber message from someone identifying herself as Margarette, who said she was acting for former Quezon City representative Mike Defensor. The message asked him to publicly endorse a complaint accusing Marcos of graft and corruption and betrayal of public trust, with the full document attached as a PDF.
Alvarez read the appeal aloud to reporters. The sender wrote that his “principled stance on accountability makes you an ideal endorser” and that the endorsement would “strengthen this effort and uphold the rule of law.” When pressed to commit, he said his answer was brief: “No. Sorry.”
He stopped short of asserting cause and effect but laid out the sequence plainly. “It was sent to me, asking me if I could endorse it, but when I did not endorse it, I was suddenly named here. I am not implying anything but that’s it,” he said.
His appearance at the chamber followed testimony before the Senate Blue Ribbon committee, where a group of 18 men describing themselves as former Marines repeated claims that they ferried kickbacks from the multibillion-peso flood control scandal to a long list of officials. Alvarez was not on the roster that first circulated in February 2026, a point he stressed in disputing his later inclusion.
He flatly rejected any link to Co’s money. “I can say categorically that I did not receive any suitcase from Zaldy Co, because he does not owe me money, I also do not owe him money,” he said. He added that there was no project tying him to the contractor-turned-congressman, who quit the House in late September 2025 and has since been named a central figure in the flood control mess.
Alvarez has signaled he intends to file a cyber libel complaint in Palawan against the 18 men, arguing the accusations damaged his standing across the country. He framed protecting his reputation in the province as the heart of the matter, noting he holds no ambitions beyond his current post. “Importante sa akin na ma-clear ang name ko lalo na dito sa Palawan dahil dito ako public servant. Hindi naman ako tatakbo sa national position,” he said.
He went further on the question of accountability, pledging to step down should Co himself name him. “Kung si Zaldy Co ang magbabanggit ng aking pangalan, magre-resign ako. Walang dahilan para bigyan ako ng pera dahil hindi ako kasama sa mga proyektong binabanggit dyan,” he said.
