Ched Rick Gatchalian

Rep. Elizaldy Co chairs the House Committee on Appropriations briefing, September 6, 2022. Press and Public Affairs Bureau handout/File

 

Article (news)

Zaldy Co’s lawyer urges accusers to specify complaints

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1762414460180co.png" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Rep. Elizaldy Co chairs the House Committee on Appropriations briefing, September 6, 2022. <em>Press and Public Affairs Bureau handout/File</em></span></span></span></div><p>MANILA <strong>(UPDATED)</strong> — Former Ako Bicol Party-list Rep. Zaldy Co feels &quot;bad&quot; seeing public outrage over corruption in flood-control projects but doesn&#x27;t understand why he is the target of the accusations, his lawyer, Ruy Rondain, said Thursday.<br id="isPasted"/><br/>Co was chair of the House appropriations panel — the committee in charge of the draft national budget — from 2022 to January this year.<br/>Rondain stressed Co cannot defend himself against general claims.<br/><br/>&quot;If you&#x27;re saying that he should come home and defend himself, my first question is, defend himself from what?&quot;  <br/><br/>Co is still out of the country and resigned as a congressman last September, after he was linked to over P13.8 billion in flood control and infrastructure budget insertions in 2025 budget.<br/><br/>&quot;He doesn&#x27;t know what the accusations are. What the accusations? Tell me before I can defend. Most people want me to prove my client is innocent, I don&#x27;t have to do that. Our laws are drafted that if you accuse someone of a crime, you have to prove it. An accused doesn&#x27;t have to prove innocence. it&#x27;s up to prosecution to prove he&#x27;s guilty,&quot; Rondain said during an interview on ANC&#x27;s Dateline Philippines.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/11/5/zaldy-co-had-p4-1-b-net-worth-when-he-entered-the-house-in-2019-lawyer-2104"><strong>Zaldy Co could face extradition if he turns fugitive: Clavano</strong></a></div><p>Co&#x27;s lawyer added that &quot;there&#x27;s no such thing as universal accusation&quot;, urging one of his clients&#x27; accusers, Navotas Rep. Toby Tiangco to file a proper complaint.<br id="isPasted"/><br/>&quot;I don&#x27;t want to litigate it in the media, because he has a louder forum than I do. He has a Congress, he can deliver a privilege speech, he can go on TV anytime. I don&#x27;t have that power,&quot; Rondain said.<br/><br/>Accusations should include the specific line items involved, the year or years the alleged corruption took place, and other specific details, the lawyer said.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/9/23/tiangco-files-ethics-complaint-against-zaldy-co-over-flood-control-insertions-1515"><strong>Tiangco files ethics complaint against Zaldy Co over flood control insertions</strong></a></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>GUILTY OF FEAR</strong></div><p>While Rondain insists his client is innocent, he admits Co is guilty of one thing.</p><p>&quot;Fear [of the danger], that&#x27;s what he is guilty of,&quot; he said.</p><p>Rondain earlier said Co is <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/11/6/police-stress-importance-of-quake-readiness-among-law-enforcers-1407">&quot;deathly afraid&quot; to come home to the Philippines </a>to answer the allegations as he said his client&#x27;s life is under threat.</p><p>&quot;Like I said, any crazy out there might just decide to shoot him,&quot; he added.</p><p>Rondain also explained why they do not intend to file a counter-affidavit at the Office of the Ombudsman </p><p>&quot;I&#x27;m not inclined to file a counter-affidavit because the Ombudsman has already pre-judged it,&quot; he said, backing his earlier statement that there&#x27;s &#x27;no tactical benefit&#x27; to filing a counter-affidavit.</p><p>Assistant Ombudsman Mico Clavano earlier said citing death threats has become a &quot;template answer&quot;, adding he hopes Co will come home voluntarily.</p><p>&quot;His participation in this would be very vital,&quot; Clavano also said, adding the government  will have &quot;ways and remedies&quot; to bring Co home in the course of the investigation or, if the complaint is brought to court, the trial.</p><p>Meanwhile, Rondain repeated that Co would only come home if he feels the threats on his life are no longer active.</p><p>For now, Co&#x27;s lawyer believes the former lawmaker will suffer an &quot;unfair prosecution&quot; if he comes back in the country.<br id="isPasted"/><br/>“I feel that this is going to be an unfair prosecution as well. And I&#x27;m confident that if all the evidence was in, he will be acquitted. The problem is, they&#x27;re trying to build a non-bailable case against him. And if that happens, they&#x27;ll keep him in jail for the next 10, 15 years while we&#x27;re litigating. And even if we win it in the end, he will already have lost, because he will have lost 10, 15 years of his life,” Rondain said.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/11/5/zaldy-co-had-p4-1-b-net-worth-when-he-entered-the-house-in-2019-lawyer-2104"><strong>Zaldy Co had P4.1-B net worth when he entered the House in 2019 — lawyer<br/></strong></a></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>&#x27;CORRECT&#x27; THE NARRATIVE</strong></div><p>Rondain said after the press conference on Wednesday, where he claimed that his client has no &quot;personal&quot; ownership on any aircraft, that Co is happy that his side is being heard.</p><p>Co&#x27;s lawyer said they felt the need to &quot;correct the narrative&quot; because &quot;it had gotten so skewed that the people are getting misled.&quot;</p><p>He added the resigned congressman will &quot;give you his entire version of the truth in due time.&quot;</p><p>He also maintained his client did not received any kickbacks from any flood control or infra-related project.</p><p>&quot;Part of my client&#x27;s narrative is he didn&#x27;t receive any kickbacks as claimed by some alleged witnesses. And he did not commit any crime, and the fact that he&#x27;s being persecuted now... that&#x27;s just pre-judgement.&quot;</p><p>Rondain added, he has “no reason to believe” Co’s relationship with former House Speaker Representative Martin Romualdez has changed since the allegations on the national budget emerged.<br id="isPasted"/><br/>The ombudsman earlier said Romualdez could face a complaint because he appointed Co as chairperson of the House Appropriations Committee. <strong>-- with a report from Agatha Gregorio, ABS-CBN News</strong></p><div><br/></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO:</strong></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/--aQOLvNS2A?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/d8H3dNFrnkM?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div>

<p>Former Ako Bicol Party-list Rep. Zaldy Co feels "bad" seeing the public outrage, but he doesn't understand why is the target of the accusations, his lawyer Atty. Ruy Rondain said Thursday.</p>

Former Ako Bicol Party-list Rep. Zaldy Co feels "bad" seeing the public outrage, but he doesn't understand why is the target of the accusations, his lawyer Atty. Ruy Rondain said Thursday.

Zaldy Co’s lawyer says accusations against client must be specific, detailed

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Zaldy Co’s lawyer says accusations against client must be specific, detailed

Ched Rick Gatchalian,

ABS-CBN News

Published November 06, 2025 04:28 PM PHT

|

Updated November 06, 2025 07:01 PM PHT

Read More:

Zaldy Co

Ako Bicol

Flood control scandal

Ruy Rondain

Corruption

Toby Tiangco

Department of Public Works and Highways

DPWH

Office of the Ombudsman

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