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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Lacson: Zaldy Co can testify on flood control anomalies online

Lacson: Zaldy Co can testify on flood control anomalies online

Published Nov 11, 2025 03:01 pm

At A Glance

  • Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo "Ping" Lacson said on Tuesday, November 11 that the Senate will allow former congressman Zaldy Co to make his testimony online so he can participate in the Blue Ribbon Committee's hearing on the anomalous government flood control projects.


Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo “Ping” Lacson said on Tuesday, November 11 that the Senate will allow former congressman Zaldy Co to make his testimony online so he can participate in the Blue Ribbon Committee’s hearing on the anomalous government flood control projects.

Ako Bicol Party-list Rep. Zaldy Co (Contributed photo)
Ako Bicol Party-list Rep. Zaldy Co (Contributed photo)

“We’re extending our invitation, if he can participate via Zoom. Of course, if he is abroad, as we all know, his testimony won’t be valid unless he makes his testimony within the premises of the embassy, Philippine embassy, of the country where he is in,” Lacson told reporters in an interview after the launching of the new Senate website.

If Co cannot testify within a Philippine embassy, Lacson said the former lawmaker can still testify through Zoom, and after the testimony, have it affirmed before a Philippine consulate official wherever he is.

“So that’s our plan. If he cannot physically go to an embassy to testify so his testimony can be valid even after testifying, a consulate official can affirm his testimony.

“For example, he made the testimony on Friday, he can go to the consul’s office on Saturday. His testimony can be affirmed then, as long as it is truthful, nothing added, nothing subtracted,” Lacson explained.

The senator cited the Senate’s hearings on the Pharmally scandal wherein some of the resource persons who were invited were able to participate in the hearing via Zoom.

At that time, then Senate blue ribbon committee chairman and now former senator Richard Gordon, who headed the investigation into the scandal over allegations of overpriced medical supplies supplied by Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp. to the government, allowed some of those invited to testify online.

Lacson said they will communicate with Co and inform him of the proposed arrangement through the address they know.

“If there’s feedback, so we will indicate this in the letter of invitation we will send to him. If he cannot physically attend, we will allow him to participate via Zoom because we already did this in the past, during the Pharmally hearings.

Co, former head of the House Committee on Appropriations, has been rejecting allegations that he “masterminded” last-minute insertions in the 2025 national budget and called these as “false and baseless.”

Related Tags

Zaldy Co flood control probe Ping Lacson Senate Blue Ribbon Committee
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