This is what President Bongbong Marcos said about the case of Zaldy Co.
President Bongbong Marcos stresses that what he wants is proper and legal coordination regarding the return of Zaldy Co.
Based on an online definition, extradition is “the formal process where one country (the requested state) surrenders a person to another country (the requesting state) to face criminal prosecution or serve a sentence for a crime committed in the requesting country, ensuring fugitives can’t escape justice across borders through treaties and legal procedures.”
However, in terms of the case of Zaldy Co, what
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
wants to do the legal and proper coordination to have him back in the Philippines.
“Hindi extradition kung hindi pakikipag-usap sa bansang Portugal at pati po paggamit po at pakikipag-cooperate sa Interpol [International Criminal Police Organization],”
says Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said in a Palace briefing Thursday, January 15.
Department of the Interior and Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla also claimed that the country is already in the process of seeking Interpol assistance to repatriate Co from Portugal, that is, if he is really in the said country.
The former House Appropriations Committee chairperson is facing graft, malversation, and falsification of public documents charges over the construction of an anomalous flood control project in Oriental Mindoro.
He left the Philippines in mid-2025 for medical treatment, before the president began a crackdown on those allegedly involved in ghost or substandard flood control projects. He also resigned as a member of the House of Representatives even before the chamber could cancel his travel authority.