Marcos: ‘We will bring Zaldy Co home’
President Marcos on Monday vowed that former lawmaker Elizaldy “Zaldy” Co will be brought back to the country to face the graft charges filed against him related to the multibillion-peso public works scandal.
In a video statement, the President said the 55-year-old Co remains in the custody of Czech Republic authorities after he was arrested last week for attempting to cross the German border without proper travel documentation.
“We will bring Zaldy Co home, and we will do so in accordance with the law. He will answer to the Filipino people,” he said.
According to Mr. Marcos, Manila will send a “high-level coordination team” to Prague to focus on the urgent deportation of Co back to the country.
Malacañang has not yet responded to inquiries on the government officials who will comprise this team.
No extradition treaty
Manila and Prague have no extradition treaty, but the President ordered the Department of Justice and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to lead the negotiations with their Czech counterparts to ensure that all required processes for the turnover of Co to Philippine authorities are carried out properly.
“These processes follow established legal procedures between countries, and therefore require sufficient time to be carried out correctly,” stressed Mr. Marcos, who also revealed that Co, a former representative of Ako Bicol party list, was held at the German border during a random check after he attempted to cross from the Czech Republic on April 16.
Co was denied entry and returned to Czech authorities, where he remains in custody.
Neither Philippine nor Czech authorities have released any photo or video confirming Co’s arrest.
The Inquirer has reached out to Col. Aleš Benedikt, director of the Foreign Police Service of Czech police, as well as Pavla Novotná, director of the Department of Asylum and Migration Policy of the Czech interior ministry, through their official email addresses for information on Co’s status and his detention facility, but has received no response as of writing.
Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla said Co’s deportation may take one to three weeks, depending on the development of the DFA’s talks with its Czech counterpart.
Manila is also awaiting the response of the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) on its request filed in November for the issuance of a “red notice” against Co, which can facilitate his deportation back to the Philippines.
Asylum complication
But international law experts warned it may take months or even more than a year before Co could be handed over to local authorities, should he dispute his deportation and seek asylum in the Czech Republic.
This may further delay Co’s deportation, with proceedings against him suspended pending the decision on his asylum application.
The process of administrative deportation only resumes after the asylum proceedings are terminated, including the waiting time for the Czech interior ministry to grant or reject the application, and any court appeals.
The asylum application may also trigger a review of Co’s detention, which may result in his release from the custody of Czech police.
The former lawmaker, who headed the powerful House appropriations committee in the 19th Congress from July 2022 until his removal in January 2025, saw his Philippine passport canceled after being declared a fugitive by the antigraft court in December last year.
Three divisions of the Sandiganbayan (Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh) issued separate warrants of arrest against Co, along with 15 officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways and Sunwest Inc., for graft and malversation of public funds over an anomalous P289.5-million flood control project in Oriental Mindoro province.
PNP ready
Meanwhile, the Philippine National Police said it has already a security plan in place for the return of Co to the Philippines.
“The PNP is ready… and the protection that will be given to him will be the same as with any other individual tasked to be protected by the Philippine National Police,” the law enforcement agency’s spokesperson, Brig. Gen. Randulf Tuaño, said in a briefing at Camp Crame on Monday.
Upon Co’s return to the Philippines, he will be taken to the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group for documentation, fingerprinting, and medical and physical examinations, according to Tuaño.
Once these processes are complete, Co will be brought to the Sandiganbayan to return the warrant for his arrest.
The Sandiganbayan will then decide where Co will be detained, Tuaño said.
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