The Office of the Ombudsman has filed another graft and malversation case against fugitive former lawmaker Zaldy Co over a ₱77.2-million “ghost” flood control project in Balagtas, Bulacan, as investigators continue pursuing the wider multibillion-peso flood control case involving former House Speaker Martin Romualdez.
The project involved a supposed riverbank protection structure along the Balagtas River in Barangay San Juan. Records showed it was certified 100 percent complete by May 2, 2025, but a later physical inspection found that the structure did not exist.
The Ombudsman said kickbacks collected from contractors were delivered in advance to Co, who allegedly ensured that projects were inserted into the National Expenditure Program and later funded through the General Appropriations Act.
“Co’s participation was therefore necessary or indispensable in this elaborate scheme of embezzling funds intended for flood control projects,” the Ombudsman stated.
The new case comes as the anti-graft body continues building its broader case involving Co and Romualdez. Ombudsman investigators have accused the two former House leaders of conspiring in a scheme involving approximately ₱56 billion in suspected ill-gotten wealth connected to flood control funds.
Assistant Ombudsman Mico Clavano has placed Romualdez at the center of that investigation, identifying the former Speaker as the mastermind of the broader flood control scheme. Romualdez faces complaints involving plunder, graft, bribery and money laundering, which he has denied.
Scrutiny of the Co-Romualdez connection intensified in April after Co was detained in Prague on April 16. Five days later, Romualdez was preparing to travel to Singapore while under Ombudsman investigation. Ombudsman Boying Remulla described the timing as suspicious, and the anti-graft body sought a precautionary hold departure order to prevent Romualdez from leaving while the investigation was ongoing.
Co has also directly implicated Romualdez, claiming that the former Speaker ordered him to produce ₱2 billion monthly from DPWH-related transactions and accusing him of involvement in the wider ₱56-billion money trail. Romualdez has denied the accusations.
As more cases are filed against Co over individual flood control projects, the Ombudsman’s wider investigation continues to move toward the former Speaker whom investigators have placed at the center of the multibillion-peso scheme.
