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Rainier Allan Ronda - The Philippine Star
January 13, 2026 | 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon is set to appear before the Sandiganbayan on Jan. 20 to testify in the trial involving an alleged ghost flood control project in Oriental Mindoro that implicates former congressman Zaldy Co.
Dizon said he is uncertain whether the proceedings will be open to the public, noting that this will depend on the court’s rules.
“We will give you updates on my sworn testimony in that case,” he told the media yesterday at a press conference.
Dizon stressed that his appearance is part of a broader effort to hold accountable those involved in anomalous public works projects.
“Because I am the complainant in many of these cases, you will see me testify in these cases in the following weeks, in the following months, as part of our continuing effort to get those responsible to account,” Dizon said.
Meanwhile, the Bureau of Customs (BOC) will further investigate if the eight seized luxury cars linked to Co were illegally imported.
In an interview yesterday with radio dzBB, BOC Office of the Commissioner deputy chief of staff Chris Noel Bendijo said they obtained the engine numbers, chassis numbers and other information about the vehicles.
“It would be easier for us to implement our system – if this would fall under unlawful importation, whether technical smuggling, or if these were misclassified or were misdeclared based on the entries that we have in the BOC. We will do it this week,” he said.
Case filing will “definitely” follow, he asserted.
Authorities intend to determine how the cars entered the country, if through a car dealer, he noted.
In a separate interview with ANC, BOC Assistant Commissioner Vincent Philip Maronilla said it was the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) that requested the BOC to check on the records of these vehicles.
“We made an initial check and based on LTO (Land Transportation Office) records and the records of the BOC, we found out that under our records there were deficiencies in duties and taxes… (and) specifically no certificates of payment were issued for these vehicles and therefore the registration of the same are dubious,” Maronilla said.
Bendijo said they will prepare for the return of search warrants and inform the court about the outcome of the government’s operation on Jan. 8 at the parking lot of a condominium in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig.
The court had issued search warrants for nine vehicles, but only eight were found last Thursday: a Lexus LX450d, a Toyota Sequoia, a Rolls Royce, three Cadillac Escalades, a Lexus LX570 and a Mercedes-Benz V220d.
Based on a Customs examiner’s initial assessment, the cars have a total value of over P145 million.
Authorities failed to seize a Toyota Land Cruiser, which reportedly left the building before they conducted the search.
The BOC has sought the help of the police Highway Patrol Group (HPG) to locate the Land Cruiser, but also hopes that it will be surrendered to their office.
Citing the documents they have gathered so far, Bendijo said the cars were registered to companies. In some of these firms, Co was a shareholder.
The vehicles were allegedly registered to La Venezia Hotel and Spa Inc., Sunwest Corp., Misibis Resort and Hotel and a certain “Jalandoni.”
Bendijo agreed with Co’s lawyer that corporations have a separate personality from Co, but clarified that “the BOC does not look at the personalities… rather at the potential that these might be smuggled objects and that is why search warrants were issued against them.”
Search warrants were issued after the ICI received intelligence information.
Upon checking, it appeared that the cars reportedly did not have import entries, raising the probability that there were violations of the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act Section 1401 covering “Unlawful Importation or Exportation.” — Evelyn Macairan, Mark Ernest Villeza
