Jonvic Remulla confident ex-lawmaker Zaldy Co will be arrested

Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla on Friday again expressed confidence that fugitive former lawmaker Zaldy Co would eventually be arrested over his alleged involvement in the flood control scandal.

“I’m confident na bago matapos yung asylum application niya, makukuha na natin si Zaldy. We’re working very hard. Hindi talaga kami tumitigil diyan. It doesn’t always work to our favor, but now, we see his world is getting smaller,” Remulla told reporters during the Kapihan ng Samahang Plaridel forum in Manila on Friday.

Remulla said Co is currently staying in a 10-bedroom house along the Champs-Élysées in Paris, which he claimed could be worth around $200 million or €200 million.

“He has a house in Champs-Élysées, 10 bedrooms na malapit sa Christian Dior. Ganito kalaki 'yung taas ng mga ceiling noon, 10 bedrooms. Probably worth five, probably worth maybe 200 million dollars, euros,” Remulla said.

Asked whether the Philippine government would move to block Co’s asylum bid, Remulla replied that “there are conversations to that effect.”

He said the Philippine government requested a red notice for Co from the Interpol last September.

An Interpol red notice is a request to law enforcement agencies worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition or similar legal action.

Remulla said applications for red notices can take up to six months to process, meaning the notice against Co could have been issued last March.

He added that he had coordinated with an Interpol vice president and that the Philippine government has been seeking updates from the international police body every week.

Although Remulla did not identify which Interpol vice president he spoke with, the organization currently has three vice presidents: Mohammed Dkhissi, Mary Rodriguez, and Wang Yong.

“I am confident we'll get the red notice and I'm confident we're going to get Zaldy Co back here to the Philippines. This is the only hope we have,” Remulla said.

“I am confident na bago matapos yung asylum application niya, makukuha na natin si Zaldy. Six-month application process kasi 'yan. Sometimes, tumatagal,” he added.

Co is wanted for graft and malversation in connection with an allegedly anomalous P289.5-million flood control project in Oriental Mindoro.