Ex-Lawmaker Accuses Marcos of 51B Peso Budget Insertions

Manila, Philippines – Former House Representative Elizaldy Zaldy Co accused Ilocos Norte Representative Ferdinand Alexander Sandro Marcos, the House Majority Leader and son of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., of inserting nearly 51 billion pesos worth of infrastructure projects into the national budgets for 2023, 2024, and 2025, according to videos Co released on November 25 and 26.

Co, who resigned from his position as Ako Bicol party-list representative and has been abroad since July, claimed in the videos that Marcos, as senior deputy majority leader in the previous Congress, directed these insertions during bicameral conference committee deliberations. He specified amounts of 9.636 billion pesos in 2023, 20.174 billion in 2024, and 21.127 billion in 2025, totaling 50.937 billion pesos. The projects, detailed in documents Co shared, primarily benefited Ilocos Norte, Marcos' district, but also included sites in Baguio City, Cebu, Tarlac, Nueva Ecija, Oriental Mindoro, and Davao de Oro. They encompassed road construction, rehabilitation, flood control measures, multipurpose buildings, and smaller initiatives like slope protections and drainage structures.