ASEANEWS HEADLINE-COURTS & CRIME | MANILA, Philippines: Interpol Red Notice sought for Zaldy Co
ABANDONED Officers from the Taguig City police and the Southern Police District tried toserve the Sandiganbayan arrest warrant against resigned Ako Bicol Rep. Elizaldy Co at his luxurycondominium in Horizon Homes by Shangri-La at The Fort on Saturday only to find it locked andtemporarily abandoned by the ex-congressman. He is facing a nonbailable charge of malversationthrough falsification, plus two counts of graft, in connection with a substandard flood controlproject in Oriental Mindoro along with 15 other people.
.
WATCH VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gztwlTbvPzM
Ombudsman seeks Interpol red notice, passport cancellation for Zaldy Co | INQToday
.
UPDATE) THE National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has mobilized teams nationwide to implement arrest warrants and hold-departure orders issued by the Sandiganbayan against former lawmaker Zaldy Co and 15 others implicated in a multi-billion-peso flood-control bribery scandal.
In a statement issued on Saturday, the NBI said the rapid deployment aims to prevent any attempt by the accused, who are still in the country, to flee.
The bureau described the Sandiganbayan’s issuance of warrants as a long-overdue breakthrough in a case “kept in shadows” for years.
.
@[email protected]
.
“Those who steal from the public will be made to face the public — this is our mandate, and we intend to fulfill it,” NBI Officer-in-Charge Angelito DLP Magno said, noting that teams have been instructed to coordinate with law enforcement and airport authorities to block possible escape routes.
The enforcement push comes as the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) said it was moving to secure a Red Notice from Interpol to locate and arrest Co, who has been out of the country since July.
DILG Secretary Jonvic Remulla said on Saturday that the government is applying for the stronger Interpol notice after earlier securing a Blue Notice intended to gather intelligence on the ex-congressman’s movements.
Co was most recently reported to be in Japan, with past stays in the United States, Europe, Singapore, Spain and Portugal
With formal cases now filed, Remulla said the Red Notice request would allow law enforcement agencies worldwide to pinpoint and detain the former lawmaker pending extradition.
The DILG also plans to ask the Department of Foreign Affairs to cancel his passport to curtail his international mobility.
@[email protected]
.
But the DFA said Saturday it has yet to receive any court directive to cancel Co’s passport.
In a statement issued Friday, the DFA emphasized that it can only revoke a passport upon the issuance of an order from a “competent Philippine court,” as mandated under the New Philippine Passport Act.
“As of this time, the department has not received such an order,” it said.
Arrest warrants were issued this week against Co and 17 others, including officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and executives of Sunwest Corp., the construction firm founded by Co. They are accused of taking large kickbacks from anomalous flood-control projects. Co has denied any wrongdoing.
Co, who previously chaired the House Appropriations Committee, resigned from the chamber following allegations linking him to widespread irregularities in the national flood control budget.
Remulla said authorities are also monitoring Co’s properties and offices in the Philippines.
“He may enter the country, so we will look into his residences. We will check video surveillance in his office to see if he has been here in the last five months,” he said.
Remulla also confirmed that authorities are investigating reports that Co may hold a Portuguese passport.
If acquired before charges were filed, Portugal could extend protection to him under its laws, complicating efforts to secure his return.
He noted that apprehending Co could be difficult if he is staying in countries with limited law enforcement cooperation with the Philippines.
.
@[email protected]
“If it’s in China or Russia, we’ll have difficulties in arresting him since our diplomatic ties with those countries don’t extend to the police. We also don’t have extradition treaties with Malaysia and Portugal,” Remulla said. “Otherwise, we can arrest him.”
The interior chief said tracker teams were mobilized on Nov. 18 to locate and apprehend all persons implicated in the flood control scheme.
“As we speak, they are now going to the known addresses of all those involved,” he said.
The teams were deployed following the filing of plunder, graft and bribery charges against Co and his co-accused before the Sandiganbayan.
Co’s lawyer, meanwhile, said that they will take their remedies after a warrant of arrest was issued for his client.
“For now, we trust that regular procedures were followed on the arrest warrants. We will therefore take our remedies in due course,” Co’s legal counsel Ruy Rondain told The Manila Times in a text message on Saturday.
The Sandiganbayan’s 5th Division has denied the motion of Co and other accused to hold in abeyance the issuance of their warrant of arrest, noting that their petition lacked merit.
Also on Saturday, the Liberal Party of the Philippines (LP) said the arrest warrants filed against Co and 17 others confirmed that Filipinos wanted them to be held accountable.
@[email protected]
In a statement on Saturday, the party said that accountability does not only end with the arrest of only a few names.
“As long as the full investigation is not clear, as long as the complete evidence is not revealed, and as long as the real masterminds behind the anomalies are not caught, our vigilance will remain firm — and our anger justified,” LP President Erin Tañada said.
“The Filipino people have endured scandal after scandal, each one eroding public trust and weakening the institutions meant to protect them. We will not accept partial truths or selective justice. The public deserves a process that is transparent, credible, and free from political shielding. Anything less only deepens the culture of impunity that has drained our country for years,” he added.
Tañada said that the LP stands with Filipinos who stand with “clarity, courage, and real reform.”
“What Filipinos are asking for is not a show, but justice. We expect authorities to pursue the full chain of responsibility, wherever it leads and whomever it implicates,” he said. WITH RED MENDOZA, ARIC JOHN SY CUA
.
