Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez has identified former Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero and ex-Ako Bicol party-list Rep. Elizaldy “Zaldy” Co as the two individuals who made the critical decisions in crafting the 2025 national budget — pushing back against suggestions that he orchestrated the controversial spending plan.
Breaking his silence in a video statement Tuesday, the former House Speaker said neither the bicameral conference committee nor the small committee that finalized the General Appropriations Bill counted him as a participant.
“Records would show that I did not participate in those meetings and I was not privy to what exactly transpired during the deliberations. However, two people were instrumental in making those budget decisions: Chiz Escudero and Zaldy Co,” Romualdez said.
He acknowledged receiving general updates on the progress of budget talks but was firm that granular details — including specific amendments and insertions approved in closed-door sessions — were outside his knowledge.
“With respect to how the budget was deliberated in Congress, let me say this categorically: I was not a part of the BiCam and the Small Committee budget deliberations. Yes, I was updated on the general outcomes of the deliberations, but I had no visibility with regard to the specific details of the discussions, including the particular amendments or insertions approved during these closed door deliberations,” he said.
Escudero has faced mounting scrutiny after documents obtained by Vera Files alleged he made P142.7 billion worth of insertions during the bicameral conference hearing on the 2025 budget, shortly before Congress ratified it. Those documents raised broader questions about who directed the allocation of P142 billion earmarked for flood control. Escudero was also separately accused of visiting the House premises in November 2024.
Co, who chaired the House appropriations committee during the 19th Congress and sat on both the bicameral conference and the small committee, left the country in 2025 for a medical procedure. When the flood control controversy broke, then-Speaker Faustino “Bojie” Dy III — who succeeded Romualdez in September 2025 — called on Co to return. Dy formally revoked Co’s travel clearance on September 18, giving him 10 days to appear before the chamber. Co instead announced via Facebook that he was resigning, citing threats to himself and his family and what he described as a denial of due process.
Co resurfaced publicly on November 14 with a video accusing President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., former cabinet members, and Romualdez of engineering the budget insertions. He alleged that former Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman, acting on Marcos’s instructions, directed him to insert P100 billion in infrastructure funding into the 2025 GAB — a directive he claimed to have verified with Undersecretary Adrian Bersamin before informing Romualdez. Co also corroborated Senate testimony alleging cash deliveries in luggage to Marcos and Romualdez.
Those claims drew scrutiny from unexpected quarters. Political science professor Antonio Contreras and former Finance Undersecretary Cielo Magno both pointed out a logical gap in Co’s account: if Marcos wanted the insertions, he had sufficient authority to effect them directly, without the roundabout chain Co described. Questions also lingered over the fact that Co never claimed to have spoken with Marcos personally.
Marcos himself challenged Co to return home and testify, saying he had nothing to hide.
Romualdez framed Co’s statements as part of a coordinated effort to use him as a political instrument against the former Speaker.
“For months, I chose silence because I believed in our legal system and in the rule of law. But my silence is now being exploited with politically engineered and fabricated narratives. What’s even more disturbing — and this is something that cannot be ignored — is that there are emerging indications that certain sectors are attempting to weaponize individuals, including Zaldy Co, to construct a narrative that serves their own interests,” Romualdez said.
On the question of implementation, Romualdez maintained that flood control and other infrastructure projects fall entirely under executive authority once the budget is signed into law.
“And once the budget becomes law, the work of implementing flood control projects, or any project for that matter, is solely within the purview of the Executive, including the DPWH. Certainly not by legislators,” he said.
Romualdez said he understood the public’s anger over the scandal but directed that anger toward the evidence rather than political convenience.
“I understand the anger of the public. The Filipino people have every right to be angry because stolen public funds are taxes derived from hard-earned money. I’m not asking the public to look away. I’m asking everyone to look where the evidence points, not where it is politically convenient or politically motivated,” he said.
Co was recently arrested in Prague, Czech Republic.
