Photo courtesy of Joan Bondoc/Philippine News Agency (PNA).
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. remained confident that former Ako Bicol Rep. Elizaldy “Zaldy” Co and other high-profile fugitives would be arrested, Palace press officer Claire Castro said Thursday.
Speaking at a briefing, Castro said the President expected law enforcement agencies to intensify efforts to track down individuals facing criminal cases who remain at large.
Asked whether Marcos believed arrests could be made this year, Castro said the President was optimistic that those in hiding would eventually be brought back to the country.
“Of course, of course, yes. The President is optimistic that those who are hiding will be caught and brought to justice here in the Philippines, so they can be held accountable if they deserve to be,” she said in Filipino.
Co, earlier believed to be in Portugal, was reported to have signed a petition filed before the Supreme Court in Stockholm, Sweden.
Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla said authorities would coordinate with Swedish officials as part of efforts to locate Co.
Aside from Co, authorities are also pursuing businessman Charlie “Atong” Ang, believed to be in Cambodia or Thailand, and former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque, who is in Vienna, Austria, while Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa was last known to be in Davao and has remained absent from the Senate amid reports of a possible arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC).
