Malacañang Palace on Monday defended President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s statement regarding former Ako Bicol Representative Zaldy Co’s reported status in the Czech Republic, insisting the President never said Co had been “arrested” but only described him as “nahuli” or “caught.”

The clarification came after Davao City 1st District Rep. Paolo “Pulong” Duterte criticized what he described as the government’s “flexible” use of language in discussing law enforcement actions.

Presidential Communications Office (PCO) Undersecretary and Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said the President’s statement on 16 April was accurate because the term “caught” does not necessarily mean formal arrest.

“We just want to clarify because many are saying the President himself spread fake news. The President posted on April 16 saying, ‘Zaldy Co has been caught.’ When we say ‘caught,’ it does not necessarily mean arrest. The word ‘caught’ is very general,” Castro said in Filipino.

“So when someone is caught, it can mean he was stopped, prevented from moving or restrained. The President was not wrong in his statement,” she added.

However, a PCO statement used the word “arrested” in referring to the President’s statement that Co had been nabbed.

Castro said Marcos had also emphasized coordination with Czech authorities to facilitate Co’s return to the Philippines.

In a separate Facebook post on 17 April, Marcos said Co had been stopped at the German border after entering from the Czech Republic and was later returned to Czech authorities, where he remains under custody.

Castro said Czech authorities do not use the term “arrest” in the same way as Philippine authorities, contributing to differences in terminology.

“If the PCO used the word ‘arrest,’ it was likely a translation of ‘nahuli.’ But when we learned that this is not the term used in the Czech Republic, we respected it and corrected it,” she said.

A Department of Justice spokesperson earlier said Co’s liberty had been “restrained to a certain degree” because of immigration-related issues.

“For analogy, it is similar to arriving at the airport and being denied entry or excluded by immigration. There is deprivation of liberty to some extent,” the spokesperson said.

Duterte, however, mocked the Palace explanation and accused the administration of manipulating language.

“The new dictionary of this ‘high’ administration is really amazing — flexible, adjustable and very convenient,” Duterte said.

“So it turns out the reports are not wrong — the people just misunderstood. We are the ones who need to adjust to their ‘creative writing,’” he added.

Duterte also described the issue as an alleged attempt to divert attention from larger concerns, particularly corruption.

“We are no longer surprised. But hopefully, they do not make the country look stupid,” he said.