AKO Bicol party-list Representative Elizaldy “Zaldy” Co has traveled to the United States for medical treatment, House spokesperson Princess Abante confirmed Thursday, September 4, 2025.
In a press conference, Abante said the trip was duly backed by “appropriate travel documents.”
She said she has yet to obtain other details about Co’s trip such as the dates and duration of his medical absence.
Co, who began his third term in May 2025, has not attended the House since sessions resumed July 28, 2025.
Co served as the chairperson of the House Appropriations Committee in the 19thCongress before he resigned from the said post in January 2025, citing health reasons.
During the opening of the House Joint Committees on Public Accounts, Public Works and Highways, and Good Government and Public Accountability inquiry into the anomalous flood control projects in the country, Navotas Representative Tobias Tiangco called for the panel to invite Co in the proceedings.
Tiangco accused Co of pushing for the inclusion of billions of pesos worth of infrastructure projects in the P6.3-trillion national budget for 2025.
House Committee on Public Accounts, Public Works and Highways chairperson and Bicol Saro party-list Representative Terry Ridon said Co could be compelled to testify if credible evidence surfaces.
Co co-founded Sunwest Inc., a construction firm that has secured dozens of government flood control projects nationwide since July 2022.
His brother, former lawmaker Christopher Co, co-founded Hi‑Tone Construction & Development Corp., another major contractor implicated in the flood control rollout.
Sunwest Inc. and Hi-Tone Construction & Development Corp. were among the top 15 construction companies that cornered the most number of flood control projects under DPWH from 2022 to 2025.
Of the P545 billion total allocation for flood control projects, 20 percent or P100 billion was awarded to these 15 firms which was earlier identified by President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.
During his fourth State of the Nation Address, Marcos ordered the conduct of an in-depth investigation on the irregularities in the flood control projects across the country in the light of the recent massive floods that submerged communities during the onslaught of habagat (southwest monsoon) and the series of typhoons. (TPM/SunStar Philippines)