By Prof. Anna Malindog-Uy

 

IN a country accustomed to corruption scandals, political acrobatics and a steady diet of “latest controversies,” it takes something massive — seismic, even — to shock the public conscience. But just last Friday (Nov. 14, 2025), the Filipino nation witnessed one such moment. Former Ako Bicol representative Elizaldy “Zaldy” Co, long silent amid allegations of involvement in anomalous public works projects, has detonated what may be the most consequential political bomb of the Marcos Jr. administration.

And the fallout has only just begun

In a video statement that ricocheted across the nation, Co declared: “Hindi na ako mananahimik. Ilalabas ko ang lahat ng katotohanan. May resibo, may ebidensya, at may pangalan (I will no longer keep silent. I will reveal the whole truth. There are receipts, there is evidence, and there are names).”

And indeed there were names — stunning ones. According to Co, the P100-billion project insertions in the 2025 budget were allegedly personally ordered by President Marcos Jr., not suggested and not proposed. Ordered! And when the scheme collapsed under the weight of public outrage, Co alleges he was instructed by then-House speaker Martin Romualdez, the president’s cousin, to leave the country and remain silent.

You do not need a degree in political science to understand what this means.

You only need common sense. This is not just garden-variety corruption. This is not the typical transactional politics that has long plagued the archipelago. This is something far darker: a sitting president implicated in budget manipulation, a congressional leader allegedly engaged in a cover-up and a government that appears to treat national funds as a private family ledger.

If Zaldy Co. is lying, he should face the full weight of the law. But if he is telling the truth — and his documents, timestamps and paper trails suggest he came prepared — then the Philippines is facing nothing short of an institutional collapse. And in that case, there is only one constitutional and moral option: President Marcos Jr. must resign!

The Marcos curse

To understand why this moment is so explosive, we must revisit our nation’s long and painful history with the Marcos name, after all:

– It was a Marcos who presided over the plunder of the national treasury, historic levels of foreign debt, and economic collapse.

– It was a Marcos regime that systematically controlled the budget, manipulated national institutions and treated public funds as private assets.

– And now, under another Marcos presidency, we are once again faced with allegations of gross misuse of power, massive corruption in government, lack of transparency and crony capitalist elite capture of the state.

History may not repeat itself in exact detail, but in the Philippines it apparently rhymes — loudly. Marcos Jr. has delivered a presidency plagued by massive corruption scandals, crashing investor confidence, weakening currency and stock market, record-low trust levels in government, foreign direct investment that has fled like refugees from a burning house, among others. And now — a P100-billion budget insertion controversy at the very heart of Malacañang. If this feels familiar, that’s because it is. The tragedy is not that history repeats; the tragedy is that Filipinos keep paying for it.

What Zaldy Co revealed:

A govt acting like a cartel

Let us strip away the noise and look at the essentials.

1. A sitting president allegedly ordered P100 billion worth of insertions: This alone is an abuse of power so massive that it should trigger immediate congressional and judicial intervention.

2. A House speaker allegedly instructed a lawmaker to flee the country: If true, this is obstruction of justice — a crime that should have grave consequences.

3. A key congressional figure now presents receipts, documents and project lists: Co did not come empty-handed; he came armed.

4. And here is the bigger picture: If the president can order budget insertions and his cousin can instruct witnesses to leave the country, then the Philippine Republic is being run like a family corporation or a syndicate, not a republic, most definitely not a democracy.

This is what political scientists call state capture: the ruling elite using institutions for private gain. It is not merely corruption; it is the takeover of governance itself. And the implications are catastrophic.

A governance crisis with economic consequences

Let us be brutally honest. The Philippine economy was already in a precarious state even before this scandal. Growth has slowed to 4 percent, investor confidence is spiraling downward and the peso is dancing between weakness and free fall. But this scandal? This is gasoline thrown into an already raging fire.

Investor confidence will collapse even further. Which serious investor would invest in a country where the president is accused of tampering with the national budget? Government credibility — both domestic and international — will crater. Foreign governments negotiate with presidents, not syndicates. The peso and stock market will continue to plunge. Markets despise instability — and this is instability at the highest level. Public trust in institutions will shatter. If Congress, the Executive and the Office of the President are implicated, where does public trust go? The Philippines is not simply facing a corruption scandal; it is facing a governance meltdown.

Marcos Jr. must resign!

Resignation is not an act of weakness. It is an act of moral courage. It is the only way to preserve the dignity of the presidency and prevent further erosion of public trust. If Marcos Jr. stays in power while this scandal unfolds, three things will happen:

1. The Office of the President will be permanently tainted.

2. The country will plunge into deeper economic uncertainty.

3. Political turmoil will intensify, harming ordinary Filipinos the most.

The presidency is not a family heirloom. It is not a trophy from a campaign.

It is a sacred public trust. And when that trust is broken — as it now appears to be — resignation is the only honorable path forward.

A nation that can no longer afford silence

Filipinos must stop treating national scandals as background noise. Our greatest danger today is not just corruption — it is the growing habit of shrugging off what should shake us to the core. Democracy collapses not only through dictators, but through people who stop paying attention.

We cannot wait for heroes to save us, nor can we expect institutions — many of which are already compromised — to repair themselves suddenly. Democracy demands participation, vigilance and the courage to confront wrongdoing, especially when those in power hope we stay quiet.

The Zaldy Co revelations have put the nation at a crossroads. If he is lying, the law must deal with him. If he is telling the truth, the country must act. Either way, what’s truly on trial is our national character: Will we allow yet another cycle of abuse and impunity to define our future? Or will we finally draw a line against massive corruption that has long held the Philippines hostage?

A people that refuses to demand accountability is a people that has surrendered its future. If we allow this scandal to fade without consequence, we are not just victims — we become accomplices. The age of silence is over. The moment for accountability is now.

   

Email: contact@asiancenturyph.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/asiancenturyph/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AsianCenturyPH

Substack:

Also read: