Former Ako Bicol Party-list representative Zaldy Co's allegations on the President's supposed involvement in anomalous flood control projects could have held more weight if he made it under oath and not through unverified social media videos uploaded in tranches, Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) Executive Director Brian Hosaka said Monday, Nov. 17.

But for now, the body would only take Co's supposed revelations "with a grain of salt because it was not verified," Hosaka said.

"We just have to take it at that," he added.

Hosaka made this pronouncement during his first media appearance since Co--described by some as the "most guilty" in the flood control projects corruption scandal--began uploading the video exposés.

Currently, ICI is being pressed on how it is taking Co's allegation, especially as the former lawmaker implicated President Marcos, who was the one who ordered the establishment of the ICI to probe the anomalies.

"Ayaw ko naman sabihin na totoo yung sinabi doon sa video kasi, as I said, hindi pa sya validated (I don't wanna say if it's true or not, because, it's not validated). So, I cannot comment on that," Hosaka said.

Before considering any information, Hosaka says ICI first detemermines if the information is "verified" or "if it is acceptable as evidence".

"Malaking bagay sana if ito ay ginawa under oath para mapatunayan talaga na ang sinasabi  sa anumang statement or sa anumang video ay katotohanan talaga (It would be better if he made it under oath to prove that what he's saying was true)," he added.

And since Co's allegation was only made through a video message, Hosaka said, ICI will only "treat it as an unverified and unsworn statement".

"The fact that the videos come in [tranches], alam nyo (As you know), under rules of evidence, 'pagka video 'yan (if it's a video), untampered, dere-derecho (it must be continuous) plus the fact that there's also a requirement, under the rules of court or rules of evidence, the person taking that video should verify, in fact validate, this video," he said.

"So nakita natin (As what we saw) the fact that these are shown in tranches baka mahirapan tayo na ma-i-submit to sa korte (we might have a hard time submitting it to the court) and to accept them as basis, evidence," he added.