Graft case vs. ex-congressman Co archived

The Sandiganbayan has ordered the archiving of a graft case filed against Elizaldy “Zaldy” Co, the former congressman at the center of the public works corruption scandal, as he has remained at large six months since the court ordered his arrest. The order issued by the court’s Seventh Division was cited in the minutes of its proceedings on June 24. The document was released to reporters on Thursday. In November 2025, after Co was charged with one count of malversation and two counts of graft in the Sandiganbayan, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) ordered the police to enforce the arrest warrants against him and 15 other people facing graft and malversation charges tied to a substandard P289.5-million road dike project in Oriental Mindoro province. The warrant has yet to be served on Co, the former chair of the House appropriations committee in the 19th Congress, who left the country in July 2025 purportedly for a medical checkup. In its recent proceedings, the court said: “In view thereof and considering that the Court has yet to acquire jurisdiction over the person of accused Co, let this case be ARCHIVED and the record thereof be forwarded to Judgment and Records Section, without prejudice to the reinstatement or revival of the case and its withdrawal from the archives upon the such time as the Court acquires jurisdiction over his person.” Archiving will pause proceedings until Co, already declared a fugitive by the court, is arrested. The division also cited the “return on the warrant” submitted by Rehom Pimentel, the National Bureau of Investigation’s agent-on-case, stating that “despite efforts undertaken, the accused could not be located at the address indicated in the Warrant of Arrest.” Authorities first tried to look for Co at his Taguig City condominium but found the unit locked. The prosecution later manifested that it had no additional details to provide the court on Co’s residential address, other than those already stated in the records. Speaker Faustino Dy III revoked Co’s travel clearance on Sept. 18, 2025, asking him to come home within 10 days to answer allegations linking him to questionable budget insertions and contractors doing public works projects. But instead of coming home, Co resigned as Ako Bicol party list representative on Sept. 29. He released video messages in November 2025 claiming the involvement of other government officials to questionable budget insertions and alleged kickbacks involving flood control funds. The following month, his Philippine passport was canceled as the government pursued leads on his whereabouts. In April this year, President Marcos announced that Co had been detained in the Czech Republic after supposedly trying to cross the border into Germany with invalid travel documents. However, Czech authorities released Co after 72 hours. The last statements from Malacañang about Co were about his pending application for political asylum in France, wherein the former lawmaker claimed being under “political persecution” by the Marcos administration. —WITH A REPORT FROM INQUIRER RESEARCH INQ