Jonvic heading to Portugal to verify info on ex-lawmaker
Malacañang on Thursday said it is open to dialogue and possible cooperation with resigned lawmaker Zaldy Co, but stressed the administration’s priority is to establish the truth and ensure accountability in alleged anomalies involving government flood control projects.
Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary Claire Castro said the government would welcome information that could clarify the cases against Co, provided it contributes to uncovering the facts and help identify those responsible for the multibillion-peso scams the ex-congressmen has been implicated in.
“Ang nais lamang ng Pangulo ay lumabas ang katotohanan at kung sinuman ang maaaring responsable sa mga maanomalyang flood control projects, sila ay maimbestigahan at managot,” Castro said during a Palace briefing.
(The President only desires for the truth to come out and for anyone who may be responsible for the anomalous flood control projects to be investigated and held accountable.)
Castro clarified that reports indicate Co is seeking to communicate with the Office of the Ombudsman—not with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. or the administration—and noted that Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla had earlier said his office would extend protection should Co decide to cooperate.
The Ombudsman filed graft and malversation charges against Co and others before the Sandiganbayan over a flood control project in Oriental Mindoro.
“Kung ito po ay makakatulong para malaman natin ang katotohanan, ang gobyerno po ay open,” she said, adding that any dialogue would be up to the Ombudsman, which is constitutionally independent of the executive branch.
“Nasa kamay na po iyan ng Ombudsman kung sila po ay magkikita,” Castro said, stressing that there has been no proposal for Co to engage directly with the President or Cabinet officials.
(If this would help us uncover the truth, the government is open [to it]… That is now in the hands of the Ombudsman, whether or not they will meet.)
Interior and Local Government Secretary Juanito Victor “Jonvic” Remulla, meanwhile, disclosed that Co is believed to be staying in a gated community in Lisbon, Portugal, based on surveillance reports.
“He is in Portugal. We’re pretty certain he is in Lisbon—in a gated community. He almost never leaves the house,” Remulla said in Filipino in an interview with Dobol B TV.
“We have operatives watching and conducting surveillance. But he hardly goes out. Our team cannot enter that specific gated community,” he added.
Remulla revealed he will travel to Portugal soon to verify the info on Co’s whereabouts, as well as to reach out to the priest that the former lawmaker sent his feelers to the government through.
The brother of the Ombudsman, Remulla said efforts to apprehend Co are complicated by the absence of an extradition treaty between the Philippines and Portugal, as well as reports that Co holds a Portuguese passport.
Despite this, he said the government is exerting pressure through legal means, including asset seizures.
“Almost all of his assets are about to be seized. All of his money here is on hold. All of his properties, all of his businesses—the government is taking them,” Remulla said, stressing that authorities will act strictly within the bounds of the law.
Co left the Philippines last August, citing medical treatment abroad, as the Marcos administration intensified investigations into alleged flood control irregularities. He resigned as a party-list congressman the following month.
Since then, he has been labeled a fugitive, with authorities coordinating with foreign counterparts and Interpol, and his Philippine passport has been canceled.
In November 2025, warrants of arrest were issued against Co, several Department of Public Works and Highways officials, and directors of Sunwest Corp. in connection with allegedly anomalous flood control projects.
