Co claims Romualdez threatened him; ex-House chief denies claim

Former Ako Bikol Partylist Rep. Zaldy Co on Sunday, November 16, accused former House Speaker Martin Romualdez of threatening him should he disclose information about the alleged P100-billion budget insertion and flood control corruption scheme.

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In a new video released on Sunday, Co claimed Romualdez warned him as early as March 2025 not to return to the Philippines.

“March 2025 pa lang, si Speaker ay nagpaparinig sa akin... that he will shoot me, if I will talk,” Co said.

He alleged Romualdez later reiterated the warning in separate phone calls.

“Pagkatapos niya sabihin sa akin... ‘don’t come home, we will take care of you.’ Tumawag ulit si Speaker Martin na kapag umuwi ako, will be dangerous kasi they may hire someone to do a rob out on me or hire the police to kill me while in jail,” Co said. (After he told me in a phone call, 'don’t come home, we will take care of you.’ Speaker Martin called again, saying that if I came home, it would be dangerous because they might hire someone to do a ‘rob out’ on me or hire the police to kill me while in jail.)