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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Enverga calls Zaldy Co's stoppage claim on House rice smuggling probe 'Illogical, absurd'

Enverga calls Zaldy Co's stoppage claim on House rice smuggling probe 'Illogical, absurd'

Published Nov 26, 2025 06:36 pm

At A Glance

  • Illogical and absurd. That's how Quezon 1st district Rep. Wilfrido Mark Enverga described former Ako-Bicol Party-list representative Zaldy Co's claim that the House quinta committee (quinta-comm) in the 19th Congress was told by the executive branch to stop its investigation on rice smuggling.
Quezon 1st district Rep. Wilfrido Mark Enverga (left), Zaldy Co (Facebook, PPAB)
Quezon 1st district Rep. Wilfrido Mark Enverga (left), Zaldy Co (Facebook, PPAB)


Illogical and absurd.
That's how Quezon 1st district Rep. Wilfrido Mark Enverga described former Ako-Bicol Party-list representative Zaldy Co's claim that the House quinta committee (quinta-comm) in the 19th Congress was told by the executive branch to stop its investigation on rice smuggling.
"The allegations made by former representative Zaldy-Co are baseless. They are illogical, absurd, and completely contradicted by the facts," Enverga said in a statement sent to reporters on late Wednesday afternoon, Nov. 26.
This was hours after Co, a former chairman of the Committee on Appropriations, alleged in his latest video message on Facebook that the quinta-comm was pressured by certain people to halt its probe.
Enverga is the chairman of the Committee on Food and Agriculture in the current 20th Congress and in the previous 19th Congress.
It was one of the House panels that comprised the quinta-comm, which looked into the high prices of food items. This included rice--the Filipino staple grain.
"The facts are as follows: The House of Representatives’ quinta committee conducted several full hearings to investigate issues related to rice importation and smuggling. Crucially, no letter was ever sent by [Deparment of Agriculture (DA)] Sec. [Francisco] Tiu-Laurel [Jr.] or the Speaker of the House attempting to halt the committee’s proceedings," Enverga said.
"The DA Secretary not only supported the process but attended multiple hearings. The [quinta] committee then concluded its work and submitted a full investigation report," he pointed out.
"We strongly advise the public to be aware of the falsity of the statements made by former representative Zaldy Co," added Enverga.
Led by then-overall chaiman Albay 2nd district Rep. Joey Salceda, the quinta-comm began holding public hearings in January 2025 amid elevated prices of rice.
Co has been in hiding abroad eversince he was tagged in budget insertions as well as the flood control projects corruption scandal.
He had implicated President Marcos and other administration personalities in budget insertion and the flood control mess in his earlier videos. However, he has begun to bring up other issues against the administration.
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