Former Ako Bicol Party-list Representative Elizaldy 'Zaldy' Co has made explosive allegations against President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr., claiming the chief executive directly ordered the insertion of P100 billion worth of projects in the 2025 national budget.
The Alleged Presidential Directive
In a video message posted on his social media account on Friday, November 14, 2025, Co revealed that Budget Secretary Mina Pangandaman contacted him during the bicameral conference process in 2024 with specific instructions from the President.
"This started when Secretary Mina Pangandaman called me when the bicam process began last year 2024," Co stated in his video. "She said they had just finished a meeting with the President and there were instructions to insert P100 billion worth of projects in the bicam."
The former congressman further claimed that Pangandaman told him he could confirm the instruction with Presidential Legislative Liaison Office President Adrian Bersamin, who was allegedly present in the same meeting with President Marcos.
Confirmation and the Brown Leather Bag
Co asserted that Bersamin confirmed the presidential order, prompting him to seek clarification from then-House Speaker Martin Romualdez. According to Co, Romualdez responded with: "What the President wants he gets."
The controversy deepened when Bersamin allegedly provided a list of projects totaling P100 billion for insertion. Co revealed that Bersamin claimed the list came directly from President Marcos himself and was retrieved from a distinctive brown leather bag.
"When Bersamin mentioned the brown leather bag, I remembered when we were in Singapore right after the elections in May 2022," Co recounted. "While returning to the Philippines, the PSG chased after the brown leather bag and PBBM said, 'You can leave everything behind but not the brown leather bag.' That's why I believed this was truly the President's order."
Malacañang's Forceful Denial
The Presidential Communications Office, through acting Secretary Dave Gomez, strongly rejected Co's allegations, describing them as baseless and "pure hearsay."
"Let us not forget – President Marcos Jr. himself exposed all these flood control anomalies and has taken numerous steps since to ensure that the guilty are brought to justice, the stolen wealth recovered, and the system is fixed to prevent such occurrences in the future," Gomez defended.
Palace Press Officer Claire Castro suggested that Co's revelations were merely an attempt to divert attention from his own controversies. "Because Zaldy Co's world is shrinking, he needs to escape and save himself by name-dropping even without evidence and with only saliva as capital," Castro added.
The allegations come amid ongoing scrutiny of the 2025 General Appropriations Act, with the P100 billion insertion claim representing one of the most serious budget-related accusations against the current administration.
