Zaldy Co’s passport cancelled

National

THE government has officially cancelled the passport of former Ako Bicol party-list representative Zaldy Co, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. announced on Wednesday, Dec. 10.

Marcos said he has directed the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and Philippine National Police (PNP) to coordinate with Philippine embassies and foreign authorities to ensure Co—currently abroad—cannot legally leave his location or evade arrest.

The passport cancellation comes amid allegations linking Co to anomalous flood-control projects worth ₱289.5 million in Oriental Mindoro. He, along with Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) officials and associates, faces graft and malversation charges before the Sandiganbayan.

Co reportedly left the Philippines in July for a medical check-up—just days before the corruption probe was formally launched. Since then, authorities have issued arrest warrants against him and several others.

Despite legal safeguards under the New Philippine Passport Act (RA 11983), which generally requires a court order to cancel a Philippine passport, the government invoked a directive from the Sandiganbayan as basis for Co’s passport revocation.

Interior and Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla earlier warned that Co might be using a foreign passport — possibly Portuguese — prompting authorities to alert immigration and foreign missions worldwide.

With Co now effectively barred from legal travel abroad, the government’s next step involves tracking his current whereabouts and coordinating with international law-enforcement agencies to facilitate his return to thePhilippines for prosecution.(Victoria Diana, USJ-R Comm Intern)