Ako Bicol party-list Rep. Zaldy Co, accused of masterminding alleged fund insertions in the 2025 national budget, wants to “set the record straight,” according to his legal counsel, Atty. Ruy Rondain.
Rondain said on ANC that his client has been unfairly portrayed by reports linking him to supposed budget anomalies, emphasizing that “the people were being misled.” He explained that Co asked him to help “correct the narrative” surrounding his involvement.
“There is no whole narrative, because there is no time for me to explain the entire narrative,” Rondain said. “What he said was we have to calibrate, we have to correct the narrative, because it was so skewed.”
The lawyer defended Co, saying his role as a private individual should be treated separately from his position as a stockholder of a company being linked to the controversy. “Separate his personality as a person from his personality as a stockholder,” Rondain said, adding that such a distinction “is created by law.”
Rondain also stressed that “insertions” in the budget are not inherently illegal, noting that the practice has existed for years. “It has been there forever. The fact it’s been done, that automatically implied corruption,” he said.
He insisted that Co never received any kickbacks, describing the allegations against him as premature. “The fact that he is being persecuted now indicates to me that prejudgment on his case has been made,” Rondain said.
According to Rondain, Co remains abroad due to a serious threat to his life. “He will come back when the threat against his life has abated,” he said, adding that the congressman is “OK, emotionally and mentally,” despite some health issues.
Meanwhile, Navotas Rep. Toby Tiangco urged authorities to act decisively to bring Co back to the Philippines, accusing him of evading accountability. “It’s very clear from the statement of his lawyer that former congressman Zaldy Co has no plans to return to the country to face his case,” Tiangco said.
He noted that Co ignored two invitations from the Independent Commission for Infrastructure and questioned the credibility of the alleged threats. “Just because he is rich and powerful, he can use ‘threat to life’ to evade cases? The ordinary Filipino has to face cases,” Tiangco said, adding that no threat assessment from the PNP or NSA has been made public.
