Co has sent feelers seeking dialogue–DILG chief
Former Ako Bicol Rep. Elizaldy “Zaldy” Co has sent feelers to Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla seeking a “dialogue,” Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla said on Wednesday.
Co is facing arrest for three criminal cases stemming from the public works corruption scandal. He left the country in August for a medical treatment in the United States, resigned from the House of Representatives in September, and was reportedly last seen in Portugal.
“He sent feelers through some of the priests he knew. They asked to connect with us to have a dialogue,” Jonvic Remulla said, but admitted he did not know the names of the priests who reached out to his brother, the Ombudsman, purportedly on Co’s behalf.
The interior secretary, however, said they’re open to a dialogue with Co, who also accused President Marcos and his cousin, former Speaker Martin Romualdez, of receiving billions of pesos in kickbacks in a series of videos. He did not provide any parameter for such a dialogue.
“Of course, we take them seriously. Those who want to engage in dialogue, we’ll talk with them. But if it’s a bribe, let’s not do it anymore,” he added in jest, referring to his claims that a congressman and a contractor reached out to him to get him to “quiet down” the investigation into anomalous infrastructure and flood control projects.
‘Unauthorized feelers’
Ruy Rondain, counsel for Co, was quick to dismiss Remulla’s claims of overtures from the former lawmaker’s camp.
“As far as I know, I am the only person authorized to speak for Representative Co. I made no such overture,” Rondain said in a text message to reporters. “So, unless they spoke with him directly, I must say that those were unauthorized ‘feelers.’”
Acting Justice Secretary Fredderick Vida said he was not aware of any feelers from Co to the Department of Justice (DoJ), but added that any feelers from Co to surrender, if at all, don’t carry weight.
“We don’t weigh evidence that is not part of the process (of the investigation)… of course, the prosecutors will evaluate only the pieces of evidence that were submitted to them,” he told reporters.
Co is facing three warrants of arrest issued by the Sandiganbayan antigraft court, along with 15 officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways and Sunwest Inc., after they were indicted by the Ombudsman for graft and malversation of public funds over an anomalous P289.5-million flood control project in Oriental Mindoro.
He is accused of being one of the masterminds in the flood control corruption scandal for his role as the chair of the House appropriations committee during the 19th Congress, from 2022 to 2025.
On the orders of the Sandiganbayan, the Department of Foreign Affairs canceled Co’s Philippine passport on Dec. 10. But officials said Co may have been also using a Portuguese passport for the past 10 years.
Since the Philippines has no extradition treaty with Portugal, the government has been exploring ways to bring him back to Manila, including coordinating with the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol), the United Nations and other international agencies.
So far, the Interpol had yet to act on the National Bureau of Investigation’s Nov. 23 request to place Co on red notice, an alert for law enforcers worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition or a similar action.
Alcantara in DoJ custody
Meanwhile, dismissed Bulacan first district engineer Henry Alcantara was officially placed under the protective custody of the government on Wednesday, the first of four individuals admitted to the Witness Protection Program in connection with the flood control mess to be granted security.
Wearing a helmet and a bulletproof vest, Alcantara was fetched by DOJ officials from the Senate detention facility at past 12 noon.
Vida confirmed that the DoJ gained custody of Alcantara a day after it made a formal request to the Senate, where the former public works official had been detained in the last four months in connection with a citation for contempt during its hearings on the corruption mess.
He said security arrangements for the three other state witnesses—retired Public Works Undersecretary Roberto Bernardo, suspended National Capital Region district engineer Gerard Opulencia and private contractor Sally Santos—were still being discussed.
As of Jan. 15, the four witnesses have returned more than P316 million out of a total P1.5 billion as part of their restitution to the government. —WITH A REPORT FROM CHARIE ABARCA
