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Ranier Allan Ronda - The Philippine Star
November 6, 2025 | 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — With his life reportedly in danger and his case prejudged, resigned congressman Zaldy Co will not return to the country or contest the complaints against him filed with the Office of the Ombudsman in connection with anomalies in flood control projects, his lawyer said yesterday.
At a briefing, Co’s lawyer Ruy Rondain said the former congressman fears for his safety and deems it useless to give his side on allegations of his involvement in the ghost and substandard flood control projects of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
Rondain said Co “is deathly afraid of coming home because there are really serious threats to his life. One half of the country wants to throw him in jail and throw away the key. The other half wants to string him up by the nearest tree.”
“Would you come home under those circumstances? I wouldn’t recommend that he come home,” Rondain said.
The lawyer said he himself had advised Co against returning to the country, citing threats to his life, including from what he called a lynch mob.
He stressed he is not aware of the whereabouts of his client, as he had not asked him to volunteer the information.
“I do not know where he is. I do not know where he is because I never asked him where he is,” Rondain said.
“It’s not relevant for his defense. And I never asked because I don’t want to have to lie to any of you when you ask me that question of where he is. I never asked,” he explained.
He also said he finds it futile to file a counter affidavit with the Office of the Ombudsman since Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla “has already prejudged” the case of Co.
“And this is bolstered by the statements of (DPWH) Secretary (Vince) Dizon who said 60 people will be in jail by Christmas,” Rondain added.
“Under these circumstances, there’s really no tactical benefit to filing a counter affidavit. There’s no criminal case against him as far as I know, no criminal accusation,” Rondain pointed out.
“Number two, that flight as an indication of guilt is a misused term. Remember that he flew out for medical reasons, way before this whole thing blew up,” Rondain said. “When did this blow up? After the SONA,” he added.
“He flew out as early as February, I think,” Rondain said. “So hindi siya tumakbo (he did not flee).”
Rondain also denied the accusations by former Bulacan district engineers Henry Alcantara, Brice Hernandez and others that they delivered to Co hundreds of millions pesos in kickbacks from the ghost and substandard flood control projects.
He also denied that Co personally owned the air assets flagged by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines.
“Who’s saying that there were deliveries? Did they see my client receive the delivery of money?"
“I’ll even reduce it to an absurdity. Is it possible that there was just somebody who owed money and there was just a debt payment?”
Rondain also said the aircraft supposedly owned by Co were actually owned by Misibis Aviation. He said linking Misibis to Co was “a big misinformation.”
“That’s the reason we’re here. Because the secondary reason is to freeze everything, to confiscate everything,” Rondain said.
“If you look at his SALN, Misibis Aviation was incorporated in 2004-2008. Now, Zaldy Co became a congressman in 2019. So, the aviation company in which he owns stock was already 15, 16, 17 years old before he became a congressman,” Rondain explained.
“Now, Secretary Dizon is saying that he will forfeit. There are only two forfeitures here. A criminal forfeiture will require a criminal conviction. That’s fine. A civil forfeiture will require proof and a final decision that the forfeited property was illegally acquired,” he pointed out.
P6.3 billion assets frozen
The Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) has frozen more than P6.3 billion worth of assets linked to the alleged irregularities in flood control projects, following the issuance of its seventh freeze order by the Court of Appeals.
The latest order has added 45 real estate properties and 81 vehicles – including luxury cars, SUVs and high-end motorcycles – to the growing list of assets now under the government’s watch.
The freeze order, issued as part of the AMLC’s widening investigation on the controversial flood control projects, marks a significant escalation in the ongoing probe.
“We assure the public that our efforts have not ceased,” AMLC executive director Matthew David said.
The AMLC’s crackdown has so far covered 1,671 bank accounts, 58 insurance policies, 244 motor vehicles, 144 real estate properties and 12 e-wallet accounts linked to the flood control controversy.
Meanwhile, Senate President Vicente Sotto III said he is pushing for the speedy passage of his pet bill abolishing the existing Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) and replacing it with a more powerful anti-corruption body that he aims to call the Independent People’s Commission (IPC).
“I see a short plenary debate for the bill, which will give more encompassing powers to the IPC because the ICI is very limited,” Sotto told reporters yesterday.
He said the Senate justice committee led by Sen. Francis Pangilinan is already drafting the committee report on the measure. The panel held its first hearing on the bill on Oct. 22.
“The Senate will do its part to fast-track its passage, even with the budget deliberations,” Sotto said. President Marcos is supportive of the measure, he added.
A similar measure is pending in the House of Representatives, authored principally by Deputy Minority Leader and ML party-list Rep. Leila de Lima, who lauded Rep. Salvador Pleyto, chairman of the House committee on government reorganization, which is handling the bill. – Keisha Ta-asan, Marc Jayson Cayabyab, Jose Rodel Clapano
