CAAP: Need help of S’pore, Malaysia to monitor 3 Co aircraft

The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (Caap) on Thursday said it is seeking the assistance of its counterparts in Malaysia and Singapore to keep watch on the three air assets registered to the companies of former Ako Bicol Rep. Elizaldy “Zaldy” Co.

“We are coordinating with civil aviation authorities in these countries where they went and we are asking for them to monitor [the aircraft],” Caap Director General Raul del Rosario told reporters a day after the regulatory agency reported locating the three aircraft in the two Southeast Asian neighbors.

As to the remaining 10 air assets being linked to Co that are still in the Philippines, Del Rosario said they had been doing only “maintenance flights” and that Caap would continue to monitor their movements.

In all, the 13 aircraft are believed to be worth P5 billion, according to earlier estimates given by the regulatory agency.

They all came under scrutiny as Co, who left for abroad in August and later resigned as a congressman, got increasingly embroiled in a corruption scandal where he and other several other officials, including two incumbent senators, have been accused of receiving kickbacks from public works projects.

Co’s two AgustaWestland helicopters have been tracked in Kota Kinabalu in Malaysia after it left the country on Aug. 20 and Sept. 11, respectively, while a Gulfstream aircraft has been in Singapore since Aug. 16, based on Caap’s monitoring.

Del Rosario on Thursday said passenger manifests obtained by Caap showed that Co did not use any of the three aircraft for recent overseas trips. Their flight plan, however, only showed a one-way flight, he noted.

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Registered in PH

Del Rosario on Wednesday said the three aircraft located abroad could not yet be sold since they were still registered in the Philippines.

On Thursday, he said one way for Philippine authorities to recover Co’s air assets is through a freeze order issued by the Anti-Money Laundering Council and a court-ordered forfeiture order.

The Independent Commission for Infrastructure has recommended the filing of plunder, bribery and corruption charges against Co and five other officials for allegedly being part of a multimillion-peso kickback scheme behind public works projects.