RESIGNED Ako Bicol party-list representative Elizalde “Zaldy” Co did not appear before the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) amid his alleged involvement in the anomalous flood control projects.
The ICI issued a subpoena to Co, along with former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) secretary Mark Villar and former house speaker Martin Romualdez.
Villar and Romualdez both heeded the order of the ICI.
ICI executive director Brian Keith Hosaka said earlier that the commission will petition to cite Co in contempt before a court if he fails to attend the hearing.
He said if the court will grant the petition, it may trigger the issuance of an arrest warrant against Co.
Co, who is reportedly in Spain, earlier expressed apprehension in returning to the Philippines due to threats against his life and those of his families.
He earlier denied accusations hurled against him especially in making insertions in the entries in the Bicameral Report and the 2025 General Appropriations Act (GAA), as well as receiving billions-worth of kickbacks from anomalous DPWH projects.
Co, who served as the chairperson of the House Appropriations Committee in the 19th Congress before he resigned from the post in January 2025, citing health reasons, began his third term in office in May 2025 but has not appeared in the House since it resumed sessions on July 28, 2025.
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. (TPM/SunStar Philippines)