MANILA – In a bombshell video that’s set to rock Malacañang to its core, resigned Ako Bicol party-list Rep. Elizaldy “Zaldy” Co unleashed a torrent of accusations Wednesday, directly implicating First Lady Liza Marcos and her brother, Martin Araneta, in shadowy cartels that allegedly jacked up onion and rice prices to fleece Filipino consumers. The “tell-all” clip, dropped amid Co’s ongoing whistleblower spree, paints a damning picture of top-level meddling that allegedly derailed House probes to shield the powerful from scrutiny.
“This may be painful to hear, but this is the truth,” Co declared in the video, his voice steady but laced with the weight of betrayal. “The first family itself is involved in these corrupt systems. From the president, to the first lady, they are the ones who dictate, control and benefit from transactions that should have been for the benefit of the people.”
The allegations trace back to 2022, when skyrocketing onion prices – hitting P600 per kilo at one point – sparked a House inquiry led by then-Marikina Rep. Stella Quimbo. The probe uncovered an “onion cartel” manipulating imports, leading the Department of Agriculture to blacklist three key players. But Co claims the heat fizzled out fast after Araneta’s name bubbled up. According to the ex-lawmaker, Liza Marcos herself picked up the phone to then-Speaker Martin Romualdez, demanding the investigation be shelved. “The first lady personally intervened,” Co alleged, pointing the finger at Araneta’s alleged collusion with Michael Ma, head of China-Philippine United Enterprises, to smuggle onions and rig the market. “That’s why the inquiry did not continue, and nobody was punished. Because, as it turns out, the brother of the first lady controls the importation of onions.”
Fast-forward to 2024, and Co says a similar script played out with rice prices ballooning to P60 per kilo in the lead-up to the 2025 midterms. A fresh House probe into the grain crisis reportedly unearthed a confidential document linking Liza Marcos to a rice importers’ cartel. Enter Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu-Laurel, who allegedly lobbied to kill the inquiry. Co didn’t stop there: He accused presidential son and Ilocos Norte Rep. Sandro Marcos of ringing up Romualdez – “as instructed by the president” – to pull the plug. The result? Another whitewash, leaving everyday Filipinos to foot the bill for manipulated staples.
This isn’t Co’s first rodeo in his one-man crusade against alleged graft. Just a day earlier, he torched Sandro Marcos for funneling at least P50 billion in pork-barrel insertions from 2023 to 2025. His video series has already ensnared President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Romualdez in a web of budget shenanigans, turning Co – who quit Ako Bicol in a blaze of controversy – into the unlikely face of congressional accountability.
As the video ricochets across social media, Palace insiders are scrambling for cover, with no immediate response from the first family or their camp. For a nation still smarting from food inflation woes that hit the poor hardest, Co’s claims – if substantiated – could ignite calls for fresh probes and erode trust in the very leaders sworn to protect the pantry. In the sweltering heat of political intrigue, one thing’s clear: The whistleblower’s got the mic, and Manila’s elite are sweating.