Zaldy Co still ‘beneficial owner’ of scandal-ridden public works contractor

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Last of two parts
PART 1 | Mapping the scandal-plagued business fortunes of Zaldy Co

Representative Elizaldy Salcedo Co, simply known as Zaldy, may no longer be the chairman of the House’s budget committee, but he remains booked and busy these days, touring his home region to make sure he gets to keep his seat in the next Congress.

Just like his brother Christopher who is running for Albay 2nd District representative and sister Farida who is running for vice governor, Zaldy is on the campaign trail. He is again wooing voters to support Ako Bicol, a formidable force in the country’s party-list race since it first participated in 2010.

At the time of Ako Bicol’s debut in elective politics, he was its chairperson, while his brother Christopher served three terms as its representative in Congress. Zaldy succeeded him in the House in 2019, and is now seeking reelection for a third and final term before he becomes term-limited in 2028. 

FAMILY AND FRIENDS. Ako Bicol Representative Zaldy Co (standing) joins his ally gubernatorial aspirant and congressman Joey Salceda, and siblings — vice gubernatorial candidate Farida ‘Diday’ Co and Albay 2nd District congressional aspirant Christopher Co — during the groundbreaking ceremony of the ALECO Cullat substation in Albay in February 2025. Photo from Co’s Facebook

One of the most prominent and successful businessmen in Bicol, Co divested from Sunwest Construction and Development Corporation (SCDC), a scandal-plagued government contractor, in 2019, in an apparent effort to avoid conflict of interest as prescribed in the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees.

However, Co continues to be a shareholder in several Sunwest-linked firms — specifically, companies focusing on real estate development and tourism. 

Graphics by Guia Abogado/Rappler

Co recently increased his ownership in Sunwest’s real estate firm, Sunwestville Realty and Development Corporation (SRDC). SRDC was founded in 1996 and has several residential and condominium projects, such as Renaissance Garden. SRDC’s General Information Sheet filed with the SEC in September 2024 still cited the congressman’s address.

The company also boasts among its “well-known project developments,” Pristine Memorial Gardens, a memorial park with locations in Legazpi City and Ligao City. SRDC has also branched out into developing low-rise and mid-rise condominiums and leisure centers in Bicol. 

As of September 2024, Co is the top SRDC shareholder among seven, with 4.083 million shares worth P408.3 million. He owns the biggest chunk of the company — 39.83% of the shares — trailed by his wife Mylene, who owns 39.63% worth P406.2 million. 

Zaldy and Mylene also invested in December 2023 millions of pesos to subscribe to shares in Sunwest’s two other residential property firms. 

Co and Mylene invested P349 million each to own shares of Misibis Land. Their children — Michael Ellis and Elyza Mikhaela — also invested P87.25 million each in the luxury hotel.

The couple also each bought P520 million worth of shares in Embarcadero Land Ventures, a Bicol-based developer behind Embarcadero de Legazpi mall and Tektone village in Legazpi City. The two children paid for shares worth P260 million. 

SRDC, Misibis Land, and Embarcadero Land Ventures are all under ECO Realty Ventures Holding, Corporation — of which Co and his wife own 80%. All are companies “under common control” with Sunwest’s infrastructure arm SCDC. 

Documents obtained by Rappler show that these companies often transact with one another, essentially creating their own business ecosystem. 

For example, the controversy-plagued SCDC advanced P197.749 million to Misibis Land and P52.754 million to SRDC in 2023 “to finance various projects and working requirements of each party,” without any elaboration. 

Graphics by Guia Abogado/Rappler

On March 7, hours after the first story of this series was published, Sunwest responded to Rappler’s queries.

“The loans from Sunwest, Inc. to other companies are regular and arms length transactions that [have] nothing to do with the personal finances of a shareholder,” Sunwest legal officer Eunice Lobigan told Rappler in an e-mail.

“Please understand that the loans you are referring to undergoes corporate governance best practices and sound business analysis before execution,” she added.

Although business groups often assign projects or collaborate on joint ventures with affiliated companies, such organizational structures may sometimes lead to a lack of transparency in business dealings.

Beneficial ownership

Traces of Co’s party-list group can actually be found in Sunwest firms. Lawyer Ronald Ang, who represented Ako Bicol in the 17th Congress, is the president and a shareholder of Sunwest Group Holdings and SCDC’s top parent Astoria Property Holdings. Ako Bicol 7th nominee Anelyn Sumañga owns one share in each of Misibis Land and Sunwestville.

Sunwest said Ang is no longer connected with Ako Bicol and clarified that the party-list does not benefit from the company “in any way.”

However, Rappler showed its research to two budget experts, who both believe that Co — still with controlling powers over some entities under the Sunwest ecosystem — remains a beneficial owner of Sunwest’s infrastructure arm SCDC, which continues to lord over big-ticket projects in the Bicol region. 

The country’s new government procurement law describes a beneficial owner as someone who “ultimately owns or dominantly influences the management or policies” of the company. Conflict of interest may emerge, especially if such a relationship is not disclosed. 

“Bidders are now required to disclose their beneficial owners to prevent corruption and collusion in public procurement,” Kenneth Abante, president of WeSolve Foundation and co-convenor of the Citizens’ Budget Tracker, told Rappler. “Otherwise, they will be disqualified from bidding.” 

“We really need a law on beneficial ownership to put a stop to high-level corruption that is fueled by lawmakers with conflicts of interest. Lawmakers with business interests prioritize these interests over the concerns of the rest of the citizenry,” former finance undersecretary Cielo Magno also said.

Rappler repeatedly reached out to Co for comment about allegations that he ran a company plagued with scandals, as well as other issues discussed in this two-part article. We emailed his office, which acknowledged our request, on March 3, and we followed up daily for four consecutive days, but we have yet to receive a response. We will update this story once he gets back to us.

Business and politics

The main actors in the actual removal of Co from the House’s budget panel were interesting: Senior Deputy Majority Leader Sandro Marcos was the one who raised the motion to declare the committee chairmanship vacant, and it was approved by Speaker Romualdez.

Close observers of House proceedings know that the involvement of the President’s son in certain parliamentary procedures underscores the political significance of such moves. For instance, he was the one who moved to give Vice President Sara Duterte a free pass during budget deliberations when the Vice President was still in alliance with his father, and two years later, was also the first person to sign the impeachment complaint against her. 

Co issued a statement an hour after the development in the plenary. This could suggest he was aware of the plan to remove him.

“The highly demanding nature of my role has taken its toll, and I now need to prioritize seeking the medical attention necessary for my well-being,” he said. Co has not attended plenary sessions since then. 

Circumstances surrounding his exit, however, are unlikely to quell lingering speculations. No victory lap was accorded him, he was unable to preempt the moves at the plenary, and it was none other than the President’s son who moved to strip him of his powers.

Just a few weeks before that, there was already low-key and loose talk that his head was on the chopping block, as the President was supposedly unhappy with the budget proposal approved by Congress.

Critics slammed the removal of the budget for the subsidy of state health insurer PhilHealth, called out Congress for its multi-billion-peso funding for Romualdez’s cash aid program, and questioned the budget cut for the Department of Education (DepEd). Later, blanks over the bicameral conference committee report on the 2025 General Appropriations Act resulted in a legal challenge at the Supreme Court. 

Marcos, in December, delayed the signing of the budget by a week, and when he did, vetoed nearly P200 billion in line items.

“I think what happened was there had been a problem with the bargaining, which is why the budget was bludgeoned. So no one was happy in that process,” one Senate insider said on condition of anonymity. 

“Obviously, the four who played the most vital roles were Senate President Chiz Escudero, House Speaker Romualdez, Senate finance chair Grace Poe, and Zaldy Co,” the insider added. 

Numerous on-background conversations with congressional sources revealed that the House was trying to deflect blame, claiming that it approved the budget request of DepEd in full, and that it was Senate leaders who introduced the messy amendments at the bicameral stage. 

“[Co] got three budgets passed, this one harder than the earlier two,” House Assistant Majority Leader and House delegate to the budget bicameral conference Jude Acidre told Rappler. “The last few months were not easy for him, that’s very evident. I think for his hard work, he deserves to be respected.” 

In business, Co is acknowledged as a seasoned expert. Even though he has taken a step back from his scandal-plagued company, he has managed to still keep a stake in the empire he built, entrusting his business interests to people who have not turned their backs on him.

Can he say the same thing in politics? – Rappler.com

This report was produced with support from the Journalists Against Corruption (JAC), a network of journalists in southeast Asia coordinated by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism.