PHL to negotiate Co’s return soon

THE Philippine Justice department on Tuesday said a delegation of law enforcement officials is set to travel to the Czech Republic within the week to negotiate the repatriation of flood control scam suspect and former Party-list Rep. Elizaldy “Zaldy” S. Co.

Justice Secretary Fredderick A. Vida said the government is evaluating several legal avenues for the former lawmaker’s return, identifying deportation as the “top option” and the most expeditious method among international procedures.

“I’ll be leaving soon, very soon. Within the week, I believe, we are just fixing our visa requirements and everything. In fact, the President has mandated me to form a team. Actually, I will be heading a team,” he told reporters during a news briefing in a mix of Filipino and English.

He said he will be joined by a group from the Philippine Center for Transnational Crime.

“I want to refute the claims that some are still saying that the accused former congressman Zaldy Co is not in the custody of the Czech Republic. I do confirm that it’s not a belief, it’s a factual setting that ex-congressman Zaldy Co is in the custody of the Czech authorities,” Mr. Vida said, debunking reports that the suspect’s whereabouts remained unverified.

He added that the former House Appropriations chairman was arrested with another individual who has no arrest warrants and is not facing any pending cases in the Philippines.

This move follows an earlier announcement by President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. that Mr. Co was arrested in Prague last week for allegedly entering the country without proper documentation.

Mr. Co has been declared a fugitive from justice after an arrest warrant was issued in relation to a multibillion-peso scam tied to government flood control projects. — Erika Mae P. Sinaking