MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said Friday, April 17, that former lawmaker and erstwhile ally Zaldy Co was stopped at the German border and returned to the Czech Republic, where he remains in custody.

“Our coordination with Czech authorities continues. The latest information confirms that Zaldy Co was stopped at the German border after entering from the Czech Republic. He was denied entry and returned to Czech authorities, where he remains in custody,” said Marcos in posts on his official social media accounts. 

The night prior, on April 16, Marcos had announced that Co — who has arrest warrants issued in the Philippines and whose Philippine passport has since been cancelled due to those warrants — was now in the custody of Czech authorities in Prague.

Co, former chair of the powerful House appropriations committee, is accused of being behind the manipulation of the national budget, including the alleged misuse of public funds for flood control projects that were either substandard or non-existent. 

A Rappler investigation had also earlier found Co retained beneficial ownership of Sunwest, a company that bagged billions of pesos in government projects. Marcos himself named Sunwest as among those who bagged the most government infrastructure projects. 

Marcos, in a social media post on April 16, initially said Co was arrested after trying to cross into the Czech Republic “without proper documentation.” 

The Marcos administration has been eager to bring Co back to the Philippines since the flood control corruption scandal became public — thanks, mostly, to Marcos making it the centerpiece of his 2025 State of the Nation Address. Co had slipped out of the country even before the 20th Congress — which he was initially part of — convened. At that time, no charges had been filed and no arrest warrants had been issued against Co.  

In March 2026, Marcos told the media that the Philippines was working with Portuguese authorities to bring Co back to the country. A red notice before Interpol had already been placed by Manila in its attempts to arrest and bring Co back home. 

Since fleeing the country, Co has turned into Marcos’ accuser and has claimed that the President and his close associates, including relatives in Congress, either had knowledge of corruption schemes or made money from those schemes themselves. He has since turned silent, however, following those video-recorded exposes. 

The process of bringing Co back remains unclear, as of this posting — neither Malacañang nor the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has expounded on possible scenarios. 

Should the Czech Republic choose to deport him, for instance, would it be to the Philippines or to Portugal? Philippine officials, including Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla, have said publicly that Co is also a Portuguese citizen and holds a Portuguese passport. 

Marcos had said on April 16, however, that the Philippines is in “close coordination with the Czech government to ensure that all legal processes are followed and to arrange for his return to the Philippines at the soonest possible time.” — Rappler.com