Former Ako Bicol Party-list Rep. Zaldy Co--in a letter to President Marcos that he recently shared to his Facebook followers--claimed that then-Senate President Francis "Chiz" Escudero aggressively pushed for the Senate's P150-billion insertion in the proposed 2025 national budget.

"Tulad po ng aking nabanggit sa aking video, narito po ang ipinadala kong sulat kay Pangulong Bongbong Marcos nitong February 2025 (Like what I said in my video, here's the letter that I sent to President Marcos in February 2025)," Co, a former House Committee on Appropriations chairman, wrote in his post.

Whether it is his intention or not, Co's revelations in the seven-page letter gives a new dimension to the dispute on insertions between the House of Representatives and the Senate, even as the proposed 2026 national budget is being deliberated on.

It also came at a time when it's no longer in Co's interest to protect anybody, except for himself.

According to Co, the bulk of the Senate's P150-billion insertion--part of the total P200 billion proposed insertions in the 2025 outlay--was channeled to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

“For the 2025 budget, none of our Senate counterparts adhered to Your Excellency’s campaign promise of food and health legacy and other basic concerns,” Co wrote in his letter to President Marcos.

“He (Escudero) threatened to delay budget deliberations until March 2025, which would have resulted in a reenacted budget,” added Co, who remains in hiding abroad.

He said Escudero “wanted a P200-billion allocation for the Senate", which after adjustments was brought down to P150 billion — P145 billion for DPWH and P5 billion for AKAP (Ayuda Para sa Kapos ang Kita Program) — all placed under programmed funds.

The remaining P50 billion went to unprogrammed appropriations.

The ex-appropriations panel chief noted that in 2023, Senate allocations in programmed funds for multiple agencies stood at P150 billion. It then increased to P165 billion in 2024.

For 2025, Co said Escudero allegedly “insisted on having P150 billion in programmed funds, of which P145 billion was directly channeled to DPWH versus the typical P100-billion DPWH allocations in previous years and P50 billion to other agencies".

Co said he "repeatedly warned" Escudero that such a large DPWH allocation would end up exceeding funding for education—a breach of President Marcos’ own budget message, which emphasized that education must receive the highest share in the national budget.

“But he doesn’t want to give way,” Co said of his fellow Bicolano.

Co told the President he immediately relayed this to then-Department of Budget and Management (DBM) secretary Amenah “Mina” Pangandaman, who later informed him of the Chief Executive’s position on the alleged threat to drag out the 2025 budget talks.

“I asked Sec. Mina to relay SP Chiz’s threat to Malacañang and Your Excellency’s response, per Sec. Mina — ‘Don’t ever think about it,’” Co recalled.

Despite this, he said the House “was left with no choice but to concede" during the Bicameral Conference Committee hearings last year.

It was during the bicam hearings that the House and the Senate hammered out the differences between their respective versions of the P6.326-trillion national budget for 2025.

Co told the President that he warned his trusted aides about the political and social cost of allowing DPWH to overtake education in the budget.

“My constant reminder was simple: Don’t let DPWH’s budget outpace education. The Constitution mandates that education receive the highest budgetary allocation as clearly stated in Your Excellency’s budget message,” Co said.

Escudero was the Senate President from May 20, 2024 to Sept. 8, 2025.