Metro Manila, Philippines – Zaldy Co, the former House member at the center of the flood control corruption scandal, is in the United States for medical treatment, his camp informed the Senate blue ribbon committee as he asked to be excused from its hearing on Friday, Nov. 13.
“Co’s lawyer informed the committee saying Co is in the US, and is undergoing medication. He asked to be excused from tomorrow’s hearing,” panel chairman Panfilo “Ping” Lacson said in a statement on Thursday, Nov. 12.
Co has been absent since the opening of the 20th Congress in July. He later formally filed a medical leave and has not returned to the country since the flood control scandal broke.
Testimonies in congressional hearings accused the former House appropriations chairman of orchestrating billions of pesos in budget insertions and allegedly received kickbacks from anomalous flood control projects. He has denied the allegations.
Lacson said he initially planned to invite Co to attend the hearing virtually but reconsidered.
“I didn’t push through with the initial plan to invite him (Co) via Zoom. On second thought, the hearing might afford him a platform to say anything he wants even with no probative value and worse for propaganda purposes only without any accountability for at least possible contempt citation,” Lacson said.
