The Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) said it will ask a metropolitan court to issue a contempt order and arrest warrant for resigned Ako Bicol Partylist Representative Zaldy Co if he fails to appear before the body today, 14 October, in connection with the probe into anomalous flood control projects across the country.
According to ICI executive director Brian Hosaka, the investigating body doesn’t have the power to cite Co in contempt if he does not appear on Tuesday at 10 a.m.
“The option that we have is to cite him in contempt, but that would be a challenge because we all know we don’t have that power. So the process is that we will go to a court. The court can issue an arrest warrant if it grants our petition to file for a contempt order,” Hosaka said in a press conference at ICI headquarters in Taguig City on Monday.
Hosaka said that as of Monday, Co had yet to reply to the subpoena issued by the ICI.
Earlier, House Speaker Faustino Dy said they had sought the help of the Department of Justice to cancel Co’s passport.
The House leader explained that while the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has the authority to cancel passports, the House turned to the DoJ for assistance since it supervises the Bureau of Immigration and can help speed up coordination efforts.
Dy said he has received reports Co might be in Europe after he left the Philippines for the United States to seek medical treatment.
Remain calm — Azurin
Meanwhile, newly appointed ICI special adviser and former PNP chief Gen. Rodolfo Azurin urged Filipinos to remain calm amid the public outrage over corruption, saying that anger will not solve the problem.
“Across the country, voices from all sectors are rising — citizens, workers, professionals and youth alike — urging our military and police to join this crusade against corruption. Their call is valid and their cause is just. Yet we must remember that real change cannot be achieved through division, chaos, or violence,” Azurin said in a statement after his official installation.
Azurin said the country has seen in its history that revolutions in the streets may topple governments, but they do not always heal a nation.
“Today, we are called not to fight one another, but to stand together. Not through protests or rallies, but through truth, unity, and justice. Let us expose corruption not with anger, but with justice. Let us work hand in hand to bring the guilty to account and to finally end the suffering of our people,” he said.
Last Sunday evening, Cavite Rep. Francisco “Kiko” Barzaga led a group of protesters outside posh Forbes Park in Makati clamoring for accountability of corrupt government officials residing there.
In his testimony at a Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing, a former aide of Co, Orly Guteza, alleged that suitcases filled with cash, estimated at around P50 million each, were dropped off at 42 McKinley Road, Forbes Park, the residence of former House Speaker Martin Romualdez.
ICI set to file 15 cases
The ICI announced Monday that over a dozen cases involving alleged ghost flood control projects are set for filing within the next two to three weeks before the Office of the Ombudsman.
This is part of a broader probe into 421 suspected ghost projects implemented between 2018 and 2024, initially flagged by the AFP, PNP, Department of Economy, Planning and Development and DPWH.