EMBATTLED AKO BICOL partylist representative and Thomasian alumnus Elizaldy “Zaldy” Co resigned from the House of Representatives weeks after he was accused of pocketing billions of pesos from flood control projects.
In a letter addressed to the House of Representatives on Monday, Sept 29, Co denied claims that he was behind the anomalies in the national budget, having financial interest in construction firm Sunwest Inc. and indulging in an extravagant lifestyle.
“On account of the real, direct, grave and imminent threat to the lives of my family members and me, and the evident denial of my right to due process of law, I am constrained to tender with immediate effect my irrevocable resignation as a member of the House of Representatives,” Co, a former chairman of the powerful House appropriations committee, said.
House Speaker Faustino “Bojie” Dy III accepted Co’s resignation and urged him to return to the country to face his allegations.
Co resigned on the same day the Independent Commission for Infrastructure recommended the filing of graft, malversation and falsification charges against him.
During a Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing last week, dismissed public works department engineer Brice Hernandez claimed that Co had received kickbacks from flood control projects including a P1 billion payoff placed in suitcases.
Henry Alcantara, a dismissed Bulacan first district engineer, also alleged that Co had asked for 20% in kickbacks from local projects from 2022 to 2025.
Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon recently claimed that Co is the owner of Sunwest Inc., a company linked to subpar flood control projects in Oriental Mindoro. According to data from the Sumbong Sa Pangulo website, Sunwest Inc. secured 79 government projects worth more than P10 billion.
Co is an alumnus of Aquinas University (now University of Santo Tomas – Legazpi) where he finished his master’s degree in business administration. F
