In a catch 22

A “catch-22” is a paradoxical situation from which an individual cannot escape because of contradictory rules or limitations. It is a difficult situation in which the solution to a problem is impossible because it is also the cause of the problem.

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. (PBBM) found himself in this situation in the case of former lawmaker-turned-fugitive Zaldy Co of Ako Bicol party-list. Co has been a fugitive since middle of last year while various investigations were taking place into alleged nearly trillion-peso worth of “ghost” flood control projects over the past three years.

During the public hearings of the Senate Blue Ribbon committee, Co’s family-owned Sunwest Construction and Development Corp. was tagged allegedly as having cornered big-ticket flood control projects, some of which were fully paid for but not undertaken.

The Senate investigations followed after no less than PBBM himself denounced in his mid-term State of the Nation Address at the joint opening of the first regular session of the 20th Congress in July last year. The Chief Executive noted with extreme dismay these apparent anomalous flood control projects found their way in the Congress-approved budgets of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

Calling out systemic misuse of public funds, PBBM exposed how DPWH infrastructure budgets – mostly involving flood control projects – have been turned into a network of “kickbacks, initiatives, errata, SOP (standard operating procedures), for the boys,” the lingo used to refer to corrupt practices.

PBBM lowered this boom before his audience of the elected leaders and members of the 20th Congress at the session hall of the House of Representatives at the Batasan in Quezon City. Then House speaker, Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez, along with former Senate president Francis “Chiz” Escudero, joined in the standing ovation of their fellow lawmakers, who included presidential son, Ilocos Norte Rep. Sandro Marcos.

The flood control scandal that PBBM himself dramatically exposed to the public subsequently implicated both Romualdez and Escudero among the lawmakers whose names came out in the ensuing investigations in and out of Congress. Escudero was subsequently replaced by now Senate President Vicente Sotto III while Romualdez was replaced by Isabela Rep. Faustino “Bojie” Dy III as Speaker.

At the height of the national outrage against these “ghost” flood control projects that led to the Trillion Peso protest activities, PBBM was prompted to create the now defunct Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI). Then newly installed as Speaker, Dy revoked Co’s travel clearance and issued an ultimatum for him to return to the country by Sept. 29, 2025, to face allegations of corruption.

Co instead resigned from the Ako Bicol Party-list just hours before the House ethics committee was set to deliberate on complaints against him. In his letter, he cited “grave and imminent danger” to his family and a lack of due process as reasons for stepping down. Co’s resignation effectively ended the House’s jurisdiction over the ethics complaints against him. He was formally dropped from the House roster and he was replaced by his party-list.

It was at this juncture that Co fled the Philippines, initially flying to Singapore purportedly for medical reasons. In several batches, the three-man ICI subsequently turned over truckloads of documents and their findings and recommendations to the Office of the Ombudsman. The Department of Justice (DOJ), then headed by Secretary Crispin Remulla, conducted their own investigations on the accused lawmakers, dismissed DPWH officials led by resigned DPWH secretary Manuel Bonoan and contractors implicated in the alleged “ghost” flood control projects.

In November 2025, the Sandiganbayan issued an arrest warrant against Co and several DPWH district engineers over a P289.5-million road dike project in Oriental Mindoro. Co’s whereabouts abroad became a “catch me if you can” search for Philippine authorities. It ended in Portugal where he supposedly got a “golden visa” after the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) invalidated his regular Philippine passport.

Although out of reach by Philippine laws, Co appeared in a series of video statements from Nov. 14 to 16 last year to deny personal involvement in flood control corruption. He instead accused the President and ex-speaker Romualdez as being behind the P100 billion in budget insertions. In these videos, taken somewhere abroad, Co denied receiving money himself and threatened to release documents to support his claims.

Making a Co-like video, Romualdez released on April 21 his own video statement to refute allegations regarding his involvement in a flood control corruption scheme. His video came out after now Ombudsman Crispin Remulla announced filing charges and a hold departure order (HDO) against the ex-speaker. And just a few days ago, HDO was also issued against Escudero.

Out of the blue late evening of April 16, PBBM posted in his official “X” account that Co was “being (held) in the custody of Czech authorities.” The next day, PBBM clarified Co was supposedly returned to the Czech Republic where he originated as he was about to cross into Germany without proper documentation.

Malacañang would later clarify that the President did not use the specific legal term “arrested” but rather that Co’s liberty was restricted. This was after it was subsequently confirmed that Co was no longer at the Czech Republic.

To validate Co’s situation, DOJ acting Secretary Fredderick Vida and two other DOJ officials flew to the Czech Republic. And true enough, they were told Co was no longer in that country. The Palace cited DFA information that Co is now in France, another European Union (EU) member-state like the Czech Republic, whose governments are known sticklers for the protection of international human rights.

PBBM met last Wednesday at Malacañang with the French ambassador to Manila and the Czech Republic’s charge d’affaires to discuss possible steps to facilitate Co’s return to the country. But Malacañang admitted PBBM’s request was politely declined.

Typical of Pinoy humor, Co is said to have made a “check in, check out” in the Czech Republic.

After his brief episode at the Czech Republic, Co’s exact location remains unknown.