AMLC: Zaldy received P802 million from company

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April 8, 2026 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — Former Ako-Bicol party-list representative and now fugitive Zaldy Co allegedly received P802 million from the accounts of contractor Sunwest Inc. from 2019 to 2025, a representative of the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) revealed during the malversation trial in connection with an allegedly anomalous P289.5-million flood control project in Naujan, Oriental Mindoro. 

Based on the testimony of AMLC financial investigator Jan Mark Busa before the Sandiganbayan’s Third Division, Co received cash inflows from Sunwest’s accounts from 2019 to 2025 according to two reports: one on the transactions involving Co’s personal accounts and dealings with other entities and individuals, and another detailing the results of a bank inquiry into Sunwest Inc. 

These, the prosecution argued, are “strong indicators” of Co’s beneficial ownership of Sunwest, as he received “economic benefits from the private contractor firm despite his supposed divestment of shareholdings in 2019.” 

As a lawmaker, Co is prohibited by law from having business interests.

“Co has no direct participation in the transaction per se because the one contracting with the DPWH (Department of Public Works and Highways) is Sunwest, but the fact that he is the beneficial owner, which we are trying to prove, essentially shows that the benefits and the malversed amounts in the case went to him,” the prosecution panel said. 

The prosecution clarified that the transactions were not limited to the road dike project in Naujan, Oriental Mindoro but multiple dealings between Sunwest and Co.

Since Co is allegedly the beneficial owner, essentially, he benefited from the projects implemented by Sunwest Inc., the prosecution argued. 

Busa is the final witness presented by the prosecution to build its case against Co and officials from DPWH-Mimaropa. The counsels of the nine DPWH officials did not conduct a cross-examination of Busa’s testimony, saying his testimony only involved Co and not their clients.

The anti-graft court gave the prosecution 10 days to make an offer of evidence, while the defense was also given 10 days for their comments or opposition. 

The defense, meanwhile, said it would present around 66 witnesses.

Co and Sunwest officials remain at large, with the former believed to be in hiding in Portugal, while his co-accused from DPWH Mimaropa are detained in Quezon City jail facilities.

No structure

In a related development, a DPWH official has testified before the Sandiganbayan that there were no structures found at the site of the alleged ghost flood control project in Pandi, Bulacan worth P92.8 million that is the subject of the malversation case against former senator Ramon Revilla Jr. and six others.

During the bail hearing of Revilla and his co-accused before the anti-graft court’s Third Division, the prosecution presented as witness DPWH Bulacan 1st District Engineering Office (DEO) officer-in-charge Kenneth Fernando.

Fernando plotted on Google Earth the stretch of the project site that was being referred to in the case, using the coordinates from the project detail matrix.

“My team in Bulacan 1st DEO, based on the coordinates in the transparency portal, went to the project site to confirm the status of the project. Our visit was dated March 26. There are no structures seen. Only bushes and lushes are in the site,” he said during the questioning of Associate Justice Ronald Moreno.

Fernando said it is not allowed to change a project site once the contract is awarded to the contractor.

The anti-graft court also subpoenaed DPWH records custodian Jason Cruz to submit documents related to a structure located near the reported site of the flood control project.

This was after Fernando said he found “completed” structures at a site in Pandi, Bulacan that he inspected with accused DPWH engineer Arjay Domasig.

Fernando said the area where Domasig brought them did not match the coordinates listed in the project detail matrix. He said the site he inspected was located near the actual site that matched the coordinates cited in the case.

With this, the court ordered Cruz to submit the documents related to the other project site.

During the first day of the bail hearing, National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) agent Ivan Samson testified he was also assisted by Domasig to a project site around November 2025.

He said the project was reported to be 95 percent complete after just 21 days.

Signatures

Fernando also told the anti-graft court he did not see Revilla’s signatures in the DPWH Bulacan 1st DEO documents involving the Pandi, Bulacan project.

Revilla’s counsel, Anthony Balisi, said his client is not concerned whether the project is deemed a ghost project or not, as the prosecution failed to establish the former senator’s liability over the alleged project.

“We have established thus far from the documents presented and testimonies today that he has no participation whatsoever, no involvement in this project, whether ghost or not, he has no participation. There is nothing in any of the documentary evidence presented so far. No signature, no name, the senator has no involvement,” he told reporters.

On April 8, Syms contractor Sally Santos, who has since been declared as a state witness, will be presented by the prosecution in the bail hearing.

Red notice

Meanwhile, a red notice alert from the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) against Co may be issued soon, Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla said yesterday.

Remulla said they are coordinating with the Philippine Center on Transnational Crime for an update on their request for a red notice alert on Co which they filed last November.

“I will update with them for the next two weeks, so we’ll see what the results are,” he told reporters in Filipino.

In a separate interview over dzBB, Remulla expressed confidence they will secure a red notice from the Interpol “anytime this week or next week.” — Emmanuel Tupas