Zaldy Co’s arrest: Will he still double down on his allegations against Marcos?

MANILA, Philippines – House lawmakers welcomed the arrest of resigned congressman Zaldy Co in Prague, with Speaker Bojie Dy even calling it “an important step forward for justice,” but left-leaning lawmakers hope the development sheds clarity on his previous allegations against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

The three-member Makabayan bloc previously tried to have Marcos impeached, partly on the basis of Co’s video statements that Marcos was directly aware of, and benefited from, kickbacks linked to budget insertions, particularly for flood control projects.

In one video, Co claimed that Marcos got P25 billion in kickbacks from insertions that Co supposedly made in the 2025 budget. Marcos and Malacañang have denied this.

The Makabayan impeachment complaint was quickly dismissed by the House justice committee, with their colleagues saying that Co’s allegations were not made under oath.

“Co’s repatriation will make it possible for him to testify under oath on his previous revelations regarding the role of President Marcos Jr. and other high officials in a corruption network that enabled massive budget insertions and anomalous infrastructure allocations,” ACT Teachers Representative Antonio Tinio, Gabriela Representative Sarah Elago, and Kabataan Representative Renee Co said in a joint statement on Friday, April 17.

“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,” they added.

Marcos has one-year immunity from impeachment and cannot be subjected to another proceeding until January 2027.

Not surprisingly, Makabayan’s line is at odds with that of Speaker Bojie Dy, who viewed the arrest as proof of the Marcos administration’s commitment to go after all corrupt actors in the public works corruption fiasco.

“It sends a clear message that those who attempt to evade the law will be held to account,” Dy said in a statement.

Navotas Representative Toby Tiangco, one of the earlier critics of Co, called on the Marcos administration to send a high-level team to the Czech Republic to speed up Co’s return to the Philippines.

“We hope that once he is brought back to the country, he will face the corruption and malversation of public funds charges filed against him and, under oath, name all those who were involved in what is considered the largest corruption case in our country’s history. He should also help in recovering the stolen assets,” Tiangco added.

House public accounts chairperson Terry Ridon, however, is not keen on reconvening the infra committee, which briefly looked into public works anomalies last year, after Marcos shone a spotlight on substandard and nonexistent flood control projects in his State of the Nation Address.

While Ridon said he would discuss the matter with fellow lawmakers, he added that any investigation by the lower chamber will be hounded with questions on conflict of interest, as several lawmakers are contractors themselves, and are the subject of investigations by the Ombudsman.

“I think it is better to leave the proceedings to the Ombudsman. Even if we resume and insist we will be fair and objective, there will always be those who say, ‘That’s not true, you’re all in it together,’” Ridon said in a press conference.

Marcos announced Co’s arrest in Prague on Thursday night, April 16. He said Friday that Co was was stopped at the German border and returned to the Czech Republic, where he remains in custody.

Co has arrest warrants from his graft and malversation cases in the Philippines and has a canceled Philippine passport.

Months before the flood control corruption scandal broke, Rappler reported that Co remained a beneficial owner of Sunwest, a company that bagged billions of pesos in government projects.

Co is among those charged due to alleged irregularities in the construction of a P289-million flood control project of Sunwest in Oriental Mindoro. – Rappler.com