With the official looking to intensify efforts to locate and apprehend the expelled lawmaker.
Following the arrest of former House Speaker Martin Romualdez, who is facing plunder charges over an alleged PHP7.44-billion kickback, Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Jonvic Remulla said authorities are intensifying efforts to apprehend his co-accused in the said case.
Among them is including former representative and fugitive Zaldy Co, whose whereabouts remain to be unknown months after he was previously disclosed to be in the Czech Republic.
In line with this, Remulla is scheduled to travel to Lyon, France, to personally follow up with INTERPOL (International Police) on efforts to locate and apprehend Co.
Moreover, the government is preparing another request for an INTERPOL Red Notice against Co following the filing of the case, as well as other co-accused such as Romualdez’s personal assistant Joselyn Tragua Sereño, and Samchan Foreign Exchange Corporation president Felicito Cristobal Guevarra.
“Fa-file-an na namin si Zaldy Co ulit ng red notice. Coincidentally, pupunta rin ako sa Lyon, France para i-follow up ang red notice niya sa Interpol,” he said.
Meanwhile, his brother and Ombudsman Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla is also expected to travel to France to coordinate through diplomatic channels on efforts to secure Co’s apprehension and return to the Philippines.
“I will work with the Interpol, he will work with the diplomatic efforts para makuha si Zaldy Co,” the SILG added.
The DILG then assured that authorities will continue pursuing all available legal and law enforcement mechanisms, including international coordination when necessary, to ensure that those facing warrants are brought before the proper courts.
Prior to this latest case with Romualdez, Co is already facing arrest warrants for graft and malversation over an anomalous multi-million flood control project in Oriental Mindoro.
He is one of the co-accused in the said case, which was also filed against officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH)-Mimaropa and executives of Sunwest Construction and Development Corp.
The legal challenge was filed by the Office of the Ombudsman before the Sandiganbayan as part of the first tranche of cases related to flood control projects corruption in late 2025.
