Records from the United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) showed that Ako Bicol Party-list Representative Elizaldy “Zaldy” Co arrived in New York on August 26 using a tourist visa and departed the city on September 13.

Meanwhile, the CBP website did not indicate his next destination. According to House spokesperson and lawyer Princess Abante, Co had traveled to the U.S. for medical treatment.

However, questions remain about his prolonged absence from the Philippines, as he has yet to attend any session of the 20th Congress since it opened in July.

House Speaker Faustino “Bojie” Dy III earlier revoked Co’s travel clearance and directed him to return to the country within ten days to face allegations tied to budget insertions during his tenure as appropriations committee chair in the 19th Congress.

House officials said the leadership, including the ethics committee, is now deliberating on further steps to compel his return.

Dy also signaled his support for halting the House infrastructure committee’s inquiry into alleged irregularities in flood control projects, saying he prefers to submit all reports and records to the Independent Commission on Infrastructure (ICI), which was created by Malacañang.

“Paguusapan ng leadership, especially ‘yong chair ng ethics kung ano pa ‘yong mga pwedeng gawin para matiyak na makauwi si Cong. Zaldy Co,” Dy said in an interview with the press.

He noted that public confidence in the House probe has eroded, given that some lawmakers themselves have been linked to the controversy.

“Kung ako lamang ang masusunod, kailangan lahat ng report at kung anong nangyari doon sa infra-comm, kailangan isubmit na namin sa ICI tutal hindi naman pinaniniwalaan ng karamihan ng ating mga kababayan kung anong nangyayari dito sa infra-comm na ito,” Dy added.

The infrastructure panel, chaired by Bicol Saro Party-list Representative Terry Ridon, has already conducted two hearings but has withheld transmitting documents to the ICI pending consultation with the Speaker.

Co left the country for what he said was a medical appointment abroad. Amid allegations that he manipulated budget insertions during his term as chair of the House Committee on Appropriations, newly elected House Speaker Faustino “Bojie” Dy III revoked his travel clearance and gave him 10 days to return to the Philippines pending investigation.