Witness says over P1 billion in cash was delivered to former lawmaker Zaldy Co
A prosecution witness testified that he handed more than P1 billion in cash to former House appropriations chair Zaldy Co in eight separate deliveries.
In the Sandiganbayan hearing on former speaker Martin Romualdez's bail petition, prosecution witness Wilt Walter Rosales recounted delivering cash kickbacks exceeding P1 billion to former House appropriations panel chair Zaldy Co. The eight deliveries occurred from February 2022 through December 2024, three at Co's Horizon Residence in Taguig and five at his Valle Verde home in Pasig. Rosales described using durables in 2022 and suitcases thereafter, with amounts ranging from P20 million to up to P45 million per container.
He said the cash was counted alongside Engineer Carlo Rivera before packaging, and that acknowledgment receipts signed by Co's aides were later instructed to be destroyed. The testimony is part of a P7.4-billion plunder case involving Romualdez, Co, Co's assistant Joselyn Tragua Sereño, and Samchan Foreign Exchange president Felicito Cristobal Guevarra.
Why it matters
The testimony reveals alleged large-scale cash bribery linked to high-level politicians, highlighting corruption risks in public office.
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