RESIGNED AKO-BICOL PARTY-LIST REP. ZALDY CO/FACEBOOK
The Philippine government is now coordinating with authorities in Portugal to locate and repatriate former lawmaker, now turned fugitive Zaldy Co, Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla said on Thursday.
Co is among 16 individuals charged with graft and malversation over an allegedly anomalous flood control project in Oriental Mindoro.
Remulla earlier noted that Co left the country shortly after the controversy surfaced and was last tracked in Portugal.
Remulla said the process had begun but stressed that “international law takes a long time.”
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. announced Wednesday that Co’s passport had been cancelled in an effort to compel his return.
Remulla said global transnational crime centers and foreign governments had been informed of the cancellation.
Nine of Co’s 15 co-accused were taken into government custody last November and have pleaded not guilty before the Sandiganbayan.
Co has denied the allegations and has accused Marcos of masterminding the supposed corruption scheme.