Incompetence is a better explanation than conspiracy in most human activity. — American journalist Peter Bergen
FOLLOWING AN announcement by no less than President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. himself that fugitive former Ako Bicol partylist representative Elizaldy ‘Zaldy’ Co has been arrested in Prague and he could positively be brought back to the Philippines to face justice, the reality was uncovered and the key figure in the massive flood-control corruption scandal has once again slipped away and quietly disappeared.
As of last week, Co was reportedly somewhere in Europe and said to be pursuing an application for political asylum in France.
According to some peers, this embarrassing and frustrating turn of events is entirely the result of government incompetence and a bureaucratic lack of urgency.
Apparently, Department of Justice (DoJ) interim secretary Fredderick Vida’s clumsy appraisal of the matter, with the assistance of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), has peeved many and critically embarrassed our dear president.
Still, unless this is actually the result that is being sought, then the chief executive should order heads to roll as the inefficiency of the people around him has obviously been put to light in public perception.
Our good friend Co, who once chaired the powerful House Appropriations Committee, fled the country in early July last year. This shortly after that memorable State of the Nation Address (SoNA) by the president, in which the son of the late strongman Ferdinand Edralin Marcos Sr. revealed the existence of massive corruption in government offices, particularly the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) where the agency’s top officials stole through kickbacks in flood-control projects.
The president didn’t mince words when he said in the vernacular, “Mahiya naman kayo!”
From there, investigations were conducted and evidence quickly piled up while witnesses, among them private contractors and even some public works officials, indicated that Co and his own company, Sunwest Construction and Development Corporation, were at the center of the unfolding scandal.
Making a Houdini escape, the former congressman was swiftly ejected from his House seat and 30 days later in November 2025, the Sandiganbayan formally charged Co and several others involved with graft and malversation related to an alleged ₱289-million ghost flood-control project in Oriental Mindoro.
These felonies are nonbailable offenses for which the antigraft court issued an arrest warrant for Co, declaring him a fugitive of the law. But it took another month for the DFA to cancel Co’s regular and diplomatic passports, by which time the ex-congressman had already found refuge in Portugal, a country that does not have an extradition arrangement with the Philippines.
This prompted the justice department, under then secretary Jesus Crispin ‘Boying’ Remulla, to apply for a ‘red notice’ with the International Police Organization or Interpol. A red notice is one level below an international arrest warrant which obliges any Interpol member-country to arrest any fugitive and arrange for his return to his country of origin forthwith.
However, despite Vida’s claims that the application to Interpol was “not defective,” it evidently was, because six months on, the red notice has still not been issued and the DoJ had to submit a revised application and additional documents.
For many observers, this only shows how incompetent some of the President’s people are and it needs to be explained in detail by Vida and other responsible officials.
A key principle behind Interpol action in this concern is that of reciprocity, which means that the crimes for which a suspect has been charged in his home country should also be crimes in the country where he is found.
Massive embezzlement of public funds is a crime in any country, so meeting this standard should not have been difficult.
As for the DFA, although its belated cancellation of Co’s passports was a bit frustrating, that apparently followed the proper process. However, its lack of coordination with its diplomatic missions, particularly in Prague, where Co was last seen, is definitely inexcusable.
So, while putting the mistakes and incompetence behind, we irritatingly ask, “What now?”
This can only be settled if the honorable former congressman Elizaldy Co is brought back to the country and he finally spills the beans.
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