President Ferdinand โBongbongโ Marcos Jr. stepped into the ring with fists up on Wednesday, accusing the legal counsel of fugitive ex-lawmaker Zaldy Co of attempting to blackmail Malacaรฑang into sparing Coโs passport from cancellation.
According to Marcos, Coโs lawyer approached the government with an alleged offer:
Stop the passport cancellation, and Co will stop releasing damaging videos.
โNilapitan po kami ng abogado ni Zaldy Co at nagtatangkang mag-blackmailโฆโ Marcos said in a video statement.
He then delivered the punchline:
โI do not negotiate with criminals.โ
Marcos added that regardless of how many videos Co releases, the government will still cancel his passport, reiterating that Co โcannot escape justiceโ while facing graft and malversation charges.
But the counterpunch came fast.
Coโs counsel, Ruy Rondain, denied Marcosโ claim outright, calling it โcompletely untrueโ and insisting he never negotiated with anyone about the videos. He added that he has no control over the timing or release of Coโs recordings.
The exchange comes as Co continues dropping explosive accusationsโincluding alleging that Marcos himself ordered โฑ100 billion in budget insertions for 2025. The Palace has repeatedly dismissed these as lies, but the fallout has already led to the resignation of two top officials: former Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin and former Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman.
Co previously tagged Sandro Marcos in alleged insertions and corruption as well, prompting a fiery rebuttal from the presidential son.
With both sides now trading blows publicly, the political brawl around the budget scandal shows no signs of slowingโeach new video and rebuttal landing like a fresh round in a high-stakes title match.
Image from Bongbong Marcos FB