NBI seeks Interpol Red Notice vs Zaldy Co

MANILA, Philippines – The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has requested for the issuance of an Interpol Red Notice against former lawmaker Zaldy Co.

NBI spokesperson Palmer Mallari, on Friday, December 12, confirmed to Rappler that they already made the request to the Interpol as early as November 23.

In November, the Office of the Ombudsman filed graft and malversation cases against Co and 17 others from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Mimaropa and Sunwest Corporation over an anomalous flood control project in Naujan, Oriental Mindoro.

The charges are now pending with the anti-graft court Sandiganbayan, which already issued warrants against all the accused.

The Interpol issues notices based on international requests that will allow police forces in member states to share crime-related information.

A Red Notice “is a request to law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender, or similar legal action. It is based on an arrest warrant or court order issued by the judicial authorities in the requesting country. Member countries apply their own laws in deciding whether to arrest a person.”

Although it’s considered an “international warrant,” the Interpol, through the Red Notice, cannot compel law enforcement agents in a specific country to arrest a subject based on the said notice. Member-states still have independence on whether they will act on the notice or not.

On December 10, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. announced that Co’s passport has already been cancelled, removing the former lawmaker’s legal basis to remain in another country. The President also ordered the Philippine National Police and the Department of Foreign Affairs to track down Co.

Co has been out of the country since the opening of the 20th Congress in July.

He became the focal point of blame in the government’s flood control scandal because apart from being the former appropriations chairperson of the lower chamber, he was also a long-time contractor The construction firm he founded — Sunwest — bagged billions of pesos in projects while he was the House appropriations chair. 

Recently, he released a series of short videos accusing the President and former House speaker Martin Romualdez of allegedly masterminding the insertion of P100 billion worth of projects in the 2025 budget.

He also accused Marcos of getting kickbacks, which Malacañang categorically denied. – Rappler.com