Manila, Philippines – Former President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s eldest son Paolo Duterte, who is Davao City 1st district representative, has filed a resolution seeking to launch a congressional inquiry into the bombshell claims of former lawmaker Zaldy Co against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and other personalities.
Subject of the proposed investigation, which Duterte said would be “in aid of legislation,” are the series of video statements that Co publicly released over the weekend that alleged the president purportedly received kickbacks from the P100-billion funding insertion in the current budget.
In his resolution, Duterte said Co “made very disturbing allegations” against Marcos and ex-Speaker Martin Romualdez “which cast serious doubts on their integrity as well as that of the national budget process.”
He wanted Co, along with the other personalities that the latter tagged in the controversy, to appear before the congressional inquiry.
The House minority bloc, meanwhile, issued a statement seeking a safe passage for Co as he urged the embattled former lawmaker to return to the country.
“We ask the institutional authorities of both the Senate of the Philippines and the House of Representatives… including the Philippine National Police, to guarantee the former Representative’s safety and security upon his return,” the statement read.
The lawmakers said that Co’s video statements are not admissible evidence in any court proceeding, so that he should instead write an affidavit to allow due process to take its course.
NewsWatch Plus News Anchor Lois Calderon contributed to this story.
