Initial investigations are now underway.
On Tuesday, December 23, Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Jonvic Remulla said that ex-lawmaker Zaldy Co is building a five-storey basement below is house in Forbes Park, Makati City.
Remulla said that while their assumption that the basement is to be used as a garage for vehicles, they speculate that it could be used to store money.
“We always assume that it is for parking but it is to our knowledge that it was going to be used for storage of money because fire go upwards so they put the money below in the lowest point of the house so that it won’t be harmed if there is a fire,” he said.
The SILG also said that it is “difficult to live” in a place as deep as that, making the rational use of the area being either of the two.
Construction, however, as since been halted after Zaldy Co, who is now considered a fugitive as he is formally charged with criminal cases in connection with the flood control scandal, fled the country.
The said investigation is being done as part of the case build-up being mounted by the government against those involved in the case.
One of the raps that Co will face is the Civil Asset Forfeiture, through Republic Act No. 1379 (Forfeiture Law), which is an act declaring forfeiture in favor of the state of any property found to have been unlawfully acquired by any public officer or employee.
In a prior interview, Remulla said that the government has established the web of assets linked to Co, with the Ombudsman having identified these connections through the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI).
“The legal theory that is going to be applied to Co and others is that there will be Civil Forfeiture of all their assets…All their assets here, and assets there,” he said.
Remulla said motions for the conduct of asset forfeiture are currently being prepared, with among the properties identified for possible seizure are Co’s two houses in Forbes Park in Makati City.
Other assets that could be subject to forfeiture are the Midas Hotel and Casino, owned through his company Eco Leisure, as well as the Misibis Bay Resort.
According to the DILG Chief, Co’s arrest has been complicated by reports that he is said to be hiding in Portugal while holding a Portuguese passport.
However, he also underscored that authorities remain vigilant and ready to act should Co slip up. “It is a game of cat and mouse. They make a mistake, we pounce on them.”