THE GOVERNMENT IS banking on the International Police Organization (Interpol) anew, for the arrest of another high-profile fugitive facing a string of criminal charges arising from the so-called flood control scandal.
In a radio interview, no less than Assistant Ombudsman Mico Clavano admitted that they have already requested the Interpol for the issuance of a red notice against Co.
Aside from the red notice, the Office of the Ombudsman also asked for the cancellation of former Ako Bicol partylist Rep. Zaldy Co’s passport.
The Office of the Ombudsman has requested the issuance of a red notice from Interpol as well as the cancellation of former Ako Bicol party-list Rep. Elizaldy “Zaldy” Co’s passport.
NOWHERE TO HIDE
An Interpol red notice is a global alert for law enforcement to locate and provisionally arrest an individual pending extradition or similar legal action. It is a request for cooperation from one member country to another
Its primary function is to alert police worldwide about internationally wanted fugitives so they can be arrested and brought to justice in the country where the crime was committed or where they have a warrant or court conviction.
Red notices are issued by the Interpol’s General Secretariat at the request of a member country’s national police force (via their National Central Bureau) or an international tribunal.
Each member country applies its own laws in deciding what legal value to give a red notice and whether to make an arrest. While not a warrant itself, in many countries, border agents are required to arrest people who are subject to one.
They are used for serious ordinary law crimes such as murder, rape, fraud, and drug trafficking. They are generally not issued for political, military, religious, or racial offenses, nor for minor administrative violations or private disputes.
TEVES PRECEDENT
Interestingly, Co is not the first member of the Philippine Congress to be subjected to an Interpol red notice.
In August 2023, the Philippine government also sought for an Interpol red notice against former Negros Oriental Rep. Arnolfo Teves Jr. for a string of heinous crimes, which include terrorism and mass murder in the province lorded over by the Teves clan.
Teves’ turning point though was after his supposed private army killed then Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo, and nine others during the distribution of aid to the local folks. Degamo was rushed to a nearby provincial hospital, where he was pronounced dead that very same day.
In May 2024, Teves was arrested by local police in Timor-Leste, where he had attempted to seek political asylum. He was released in June 2024, but his extradition to the Philippines was being processed. He was later deported from Timor-Leste in May 2025.
Teves has remained in jail pending resolution on his other cases which include 10 counts of murder, 13 counts of frustrated murder, four counts of attempted murder in relation to the Degamo assasination; three more murder charges which happened in 2019, terrorism financing and illegal possession and firearms and explosives.
WARRANT FOR ZALDY
To secure an Interpol red notice, Clavano said requests were filed on November 18, along with the cases against Co and 17 others, and another request to raffle the cases immediately.
“The requests and cases were filed yesterday… Hopefully, these will be processed immediately to expedite the issuance of the arrest warrant. Then, once the arrest warrant is issued, we can use it… to apply to Interpol for a red notice,” Clavano was quoted in the radio interview.
“We are at least in the first step; Mr. Zaldy Co’s case is in court, and here in this venue, in the Sandiganbayan, we can ask for everything we have been saying before, the cancellation of the passport, and the application of an Interpol red notice,” he added.
Clavano noted that “we can ask the court to cancel Zaldy Co’s passport because we are now at the part of the process where we can request cancellation. Once it is canceled, his movements will be less frequent; he will no longer be able to travel from one country to another.”
“We can also request the Interpol for his arrest, deportation or extradition.”
FORMALLY CHARGED
On Tuesday, the Office of the Ombudsman lodged the first batch of cases against Co, former and current officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways, and board members of Sunwest Group Holdings Company, Inc., over the supposed anomalous flood control projects in Oriental Mindoro.
They are facing charges for alleged violation of malversation of public funds through falsification of public documents and the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act. Co is also facing an additional graft charge for allegedly receiving unwarranted financial or pecuniary benefits.
Co has been out of the country since President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. revealed the anomalous projects in his State of the Nation Address in late July.
However, Co released a series of videos implicating former Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman, Marcos, and former House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez in the budget insertions made in the 2025 General Appropriations Bill.