Vice President and former Education Secretary Sara Duterte has confirmed that confidential funds under her office were used to investigate former House Appropriations Chair and resigned Ako Bicol Party-list Rep. Zaldy Co’s alleged involvement in the DepEd’s controversial laptop procurement.
In a press briefing in Zamboanga, Duterte urged Ombudsman Boying Remulla to take up the probe, claiming her own internal inquiry had already gathered leads. “I know that because we conducted our own investigation within the Department of Education when I was the secretary of DepEd. May I just say that there were confidential funds allocated for that investigation. Sunwest ang contractor ng laptop doon sa DepEd,” Duterte said.
Zaldy Co is the owner and chairman of Sunwest Construction and Development Corporation, a major government contractor repeatedly linked to large infrastructure and procurement projects, including the DepEd laptop deal.
The procurement being referred to took place in 2021 during the Duterte administration, when Leonor Briones was Education Secretary. The ₱2.4-billion contract, coursed through the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM), priced the laptops at ₱58,300 each despite an approved budget of ₱35,046.50 per unit — a ₱23,253.50 gap per unit. The 66 percent markup forced DepEd to cut its target from 68,500 units to 39,583.
In 2023, the Office of the Ombudsman suspended 12 officials from DepEd and DBM for six months without pay in connection with the laptop procurement.
Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva, in his privilege speech on February 12, 2024, named Sunwest Corporation in relation to the deal. “Kasama din po ba ang kumpanya niya dito po sa kontrobersyal na DepEd laptop scam? Ang sagot po, true,” Villanueva said. He also described Sunwest as one of the country’s largest government contractors and said the Senate was recommending charges against the firm.
Congress, through the House Appropriations Committee then chaired by Zaldy Co, moved to strip Duterte’s offices of confidential funds.
