Marcos meeting with envoys yields no new info on Co
President Marcos summoned French and Czech diplomats to Malacañang to personally express his disappointment over the Philippine authorities’ failure to secure fugitive Elizaldy “Zaldy” Co, a Palace official disclosed on Thursday.
He held separate meetings with France’s Ambassador Marie Fontanel and Czech Chargé d’affaires Eva Tenzin on Wednesday, but was unable to obtain additional information on Co’s status or whereabouts.
Mr. Marcos, who met with Fontanel first, asked the diplomat for confirmation on Co’s reported asylum application in France, according to Palace press officer Claire Castro.
The French ambassador, however, declined to give the information Marcos sought, saying she was “unauthorized to do so,” Castro said.
During the meeting with Tenzin, the Czech diplomat confirmed to Mr. Marcos that Co was briefly detained by the police in Prague due to invalid documents.
The President asked for more details from Tenzin “but these requests have not been granted because the Czech Republic is bound by international, European, and their domestic laws,” Castro said
Mr. Marcos also sought “direct assistance” from the Czech government, noting that “no additional information was provided” when a team led by Justice Secretary Fredderick Vida went to Prague to secure Co.
‘Very unsatisfactory’
“The President personally spoke with them and said that he was dismayed with what happened and that the outcome was very unsatisfactory,” Castro said.
“This is because while the country was continuously coordinating with the Czech Republic while Zaldy Co was there, the flow of information suddenly stopped.”
Castro also hit back at critics who are accusing the administration of withholding information on Co’s whereabouts to prevent his return to the country and keep him from implicating more personalities in the public works corruption scandal.
“Those who are speculating and expressing opinions about why the Palace is not issuing a statement should understand that this is due to the policies of France and the Czech Republic. The government is not hiding anything. To those saying that the government is likely concealing information, that is not true,” she said.
According to Castro, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) had received “highly reliable information” that Co, crying political persecution, in now seeking asylum in France.
Malacañang has ordered all DFA posts in Europe to gather more official information on the matter.
A former Ako Bicol representative who also once chaired the powerful House committee on appropriations, Co is facing graft and malversation cases at the Sandiganbayan.
The government has found itself in a race against time to obtain an Interpol red notice against Co before he gains asylum in France.
The Philippine Center on Transnational Crime has a request pending at the Interpol since November.
A red notice is a request to law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person, but it can no longer be used once Co is granted asylum.
“Once a member country has confirmed a person’s refugee status, Interpol will delete any notice or diffusion for the individual from the country where he or she fears persecution,” the Interpol said on its website.
Asked if Mr. Marcos requested help from France in expediting the release of a red notice since the Interpol is headquartered in Lyon, Castro replied that this was not discussed.
“His only request was that they provide more information about Co. He also conveyed the fugitive status of Co regarding the cases he is facing in the Philippines,” she added.
******
Get real-time news updates: inqnews.net/inqviber
