First of two parts
Once at the apex of his political career, Zaldy Co today seems to be just another congressman.
The Bicolano lawmaker was unceremoniously removed from his post as chairman of the powerful appropriations committee in early January 2025, just after the House returned to work from the Christmas break.
His office said he stepped down from his post due to health reasons.
The timing of the move could not be more suspect. It came just weeks after the passage of the most controversial budget yet, one that he helped draft, under the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. It also coincided with the massive Iglesia ni Cristo rally that opposed efforts to impeach Vice President Sara Duterte whose feathers Co had ruffled.
But make no mistake, his sudden exit doesn’t simply relegate him to a position of irrelevance. He may no longer hold the chamber’s power of the purse, but he remains a congressman with an empire.
The Sunwest conglomerate
In his two-year stint as head of the House’s budget panel, Co has made enemies left and right. To challenge his credibility, critics have dredged up his history as a businessman.
One with a controversial past are the companies under Sunwest, his business empire that has been a favorite go-to of government for its multi-billion-peso projects.
Co founded Sunwest Construction and Development Corporation (SCDC), an infrastructure company registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in 1997.
Since then, the firm has diversified into other sectors, from energy to tourism, resulting in the creation of subsidiaries and affiliate companies that are now under the umbrella corporation, Sunwest Group Holdings Incorporated.
Controversy has become Sunwest’s middle name, from its alleged monopoly of river dredging contracts, to its involvement in the delivery of overpriced and outdated Department of Education (DepEd) laptops.
Even though SCDC has construction activities as its main business, it also benefited from the pandemic-driven demand for various medical supplies. According to its 2023 Audited Financial Statement, its sale of personal protective equipment at a 40% gross profit markup accounted for almost 18% of its revenues totaling P11.694 billion in 2022 — just when the government began easing community lockdowns.
Sunwest’s construction enterprise has been lucrative for decades. In 2009, SCDC was reportedly the fifth largest contractor of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
Rappler’s research found that in 2024, DPWH contracts secured by Sunwest’s infrastructure arm in the Bicol region alone surpassed P5.7 billion, behind only two other firms.
Projects won by SCDC from 2016 to 2024, based on publicly available data from the DPWH website aggregated by Rappler, reached at least P38 billion.
Most of SCDC’s projects in Bicol involved the construction of roads and bridges, while a significant chunk also went to flood control infrastructure. It found good business outside its home region, establishing a presence in Calabarzon and Western Visayas in recent years, while continuing to bag big-ticket projects in MIMAROPA and Eastern Visayas — particularly Leyte — the bailiwick of his close ally, Speaker Martin Romualdez.
Divestment
Co’s role in Sunwest attracted scrutiny after he figured in a word war with Senator Joel Villanueva.
It was February 2024 when the two chambers of Congress traded barbs over the charter change push of the House. The 24-member Senate, even under past administrations, had been extra wary of efforts to revise the 1987 Constitution, as it stands to lose agency if it were to agree to the numbers game that the 300-member House wanted.
The mudslinging led to Villanueva unearthing Sunwest’s past, in retaliation for Co’s statements about the Ombudsman case of Villanueva himself.
“Is his corporation Sunwest involved in the controversial Pharmally case that was investigated and is being prosecuted by the Senate? The answer is true. Is his company also implicated in the controversial DepEd laptop scam? The answer is true,” Villanueva had said.
“In our country’s history, when did a big-time contractor ever take control of government coffers? Only in the Philippines,” Villanueva also quipped. “You appointed Dracula as the guardian of the country blood bank.”
Co said that in 2019, he had completely divested from SCDC (now called Sunwest Incorporated). “In faithful compliance with existing laws, rules, and regulations, no member of my family are shareholders of SCDC,” he said in a letter to Fact-check PH in August 2022.
Republic Act No. 6713, also known as the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees, instructs people in government service to avoid conflict of interest, which arises when they retain a substantial interest in a business that will get in the way of faithful and effective performance of their duty.
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 story. We emailed his office, which acknowledged our request, on March 3, and we followed up daily from March 4 to 6. We also texted and tried to call his phone number, but we still have yet to receive a response. A staff member who answered our call said they are still waiting to get feedback from the congressman.
We also tried to contact Sunwest from March 4 to 6 through its official email addresses listed online and on its SEC documents. We will update this story once they get back to us.
Co’s move to divest in 2019 coincided with his victory as a nominee of party-list group Ako Bicol in the 18th Congress. He did not have a significant role to play in the budget until three years later, when Romualdez, cousin of the President, handpicked him as appropriations committee chairperson under the new administration.
Since then and just before his abrupt exit in January, Co had been a constant working companion of the Speaker. As appropriations panel chairperson, he had a direct hand in reviewing the budget proposal submitted by the executive.
SCDC’s business prospects with the government continued to flourish post-pandemic, with infrastructure contracts in the Bicol region alone valued at over P13 billion in 2023 and 2024.
His divestment, however, does not paint a full picture, and Rappler’s investigation found that his name continues to be attached to the Sunwest empire through other affiliate companies and subsidiaries, which conduct a significant amount of business with the corporation and vice versa. (To be concluded) – Rappler.com
NEXT: Part 2 | Despite divestment, Zaldy Co still ‘beneficial owner’ of scandal-ridden gov’t contractor
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.