‘Waste no time’: Speedy return of Zaldy pressed
Two members of the House of Representatives are urging the administration to hasten former Rep. Elizalde “Zaldy” Co’s return to the Philippines after the key figure in the country’s multibillion-peso flood control corruption scandal was arrested in the Czech Republic this week.
At the Senate, Sen. Panfilo Lacson on Friday said the blue ribbon committee, which he heads, would invite Co to a hearing as soon as possible, noting that the former congressman has pending cases of graft and malversation in the Sandiganbayan.
Navotas Rep. Toby Tiangco urged the government to send a “high-level team” to Prague to coordinate Co’s return to the Philippines. Malacañang has not responded to his proposal.
“We hope that once he is brought back to our country, he will face the corruption and malversation of public funds cases filed against him and testify ‘under oath’ about who else conspired with him in the biggest corruption case in the history of our nation,” he said in a statement.
Tiangco said Co should also help in recovering stolen wealth.
Search for truth
Mamamayang Liberal Rep. Leila de Lima said investigations of the budget mess and the flood control scandal should be carried out simultaneously now that Co, who once headed the powerful House appropriations committee, would eventually be brought back to the Philippines.
“With the arrest of Zaldy Co, the Philippine government should waste no time in fast-tracking his deportation,” De Lima said in a statement on Friday.
Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla said Co could be repatriated within one to three weeks. (See related story on Page A1).
De Lima said Co, who had been hiding overseas for nine months before he was taken into custody by Czech authorities on Thursday, should tell the truth in the proper forum and disclose everything he knew, including any evidence pertaining to the anomalous flood control projects, in the investigations.
Just like in the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte, the search for truth should not be delayed until everyone involved is held accountable, she said.
‘At first opportunity’
Lacson told the Inquirer in a text message that his committee would invite Co “at first opportunity,” with the Sandiganbayan’s permission.
Co had been invited to testify in the blue ribbon committee, which issued a show cause order against him in January for failing to appear despite the Senate’s invitations, he said.
Lacson said that his panel was also considering inviting alleged bagman Orly Guteza and former Marines who claimed to have delivered as much as P805 billion in supposed kickbacks from flood control projects to various personalities, including Romualdez.
The testimonies of Guteza and the ex-military men are “interconnected” with Co and that their joint appearance could help the panel determine “who is truthful, who is telling half-truths, and who is lying,” Lacson said in an interview with dzMM radio.
Lacson also said Co could make a significant contribution to the inquiry, describing him as a key figure in the alleged anomalies.
House probe
“It would be a major development if he cooperated. He can contribute a lot. He has been described as the architect of the mess, by inserting and allocating funds, particularly to the Department of Public Works and Highways” Lacson told dzBB radio in a separate interview.
Bicol Saro Rep. Terry Ridon, the head of the House infrastructure committee, which also opened an inquiry into the flood control projects, may resume its probe after suspending it when the Independent Committee for Infrastructure began its investigation of the corruption and kickback scheme.
But he said that committee members should first discuss the possibility of reopening their probe in a manner that would avoid a conflict-of-interest situation, given that they would be investigating a former House member.
“Former Congressman Zaldy Co was the former House appropriations chair—and most recently, many of those involved were and are legislators up until today,” Ridon said.
The possibility of implicating fellow lawmakers should be reason enough to leave the investigation to independent probe bodies, like the Ombudsman, he said.
Ridon said they could meet as early as May 4, after the current congressional recess.
The House Makabayan bloc is urging Co to disclose everything he knows about the corruption scandal.
“His return must not be reduced to a media spectacle or a convenient ending; it must be the beginning of a full public reckoning over the flood control scam and the broader system of corruption in public works and budgeting,” Makabayan said in a statement.
Co can also testify under oath on his allegations that the President and other high officials, including former Speaker Martin Romualdez, were the real masterminds in the corruption and kickback scheme that siphoned money from the national budget, the group added.
“Co should not be the only one who should be accountable if the system itself breeds corruption,” Makabayan said. “Everyone who profited should be held to account—however high their positions are.”
Akbayan Rep. Chel Diokno also said that this was a chance for Co to explain and answer the allegations against him regarding the 2025 budget and the anomalous flood control projects.
“As the country continues to deal with the consequences of these projects, one thing is clear: the people do not forget. May this serve as a reminder that the rule of law must apply to all, including those in power and influence,” he added.
Co’s former party mate, Rep. Alfredo Garbin Jr., was confident that Co would affirm his allegations against Mr. Marcos and Romualdez on his Facebook page last November.
“What he said in the series of videos that he released, he will probably prove it under oath,” he told the Inquirer in a phone call. “He is ready to prove it.”
Garbin said Co could also shed more light on his “dealings” with Cabinet officials who allegedly helped push budget insertions from which hundreds of millions of pesos in kickbacks were routinely siphoned through flood control projects.
“In the course of his job as chair of the committee on appropriation, I think he has some dealings also with other Cabinet secretaries,” Garbin said, without naming the officials. “He might have something to say regarding his dealings.”
Co left the country for a medical procedure in the United States. Officials learned that he later traveled to Europe.
When he was implicated in the 2025 budget mess and the infrastructure corruption issue, Co did not return to the country.
For his refusal to return, Speaker Faustino “Bojie” Dy III revoked his travel clearance on Sept. 18 and ordered him to answer the allegations against him. Co announced on his Facebook page that he was stepping down as congressman.
According to Co, he and his family were facing death threats. —WITH A REPORT FROM KEITH CLORES
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