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Ako Bicol Partylist Rep. Zaldy Co at the turnover of Solar Home Systems in Brgy. Galicia, Rapu-Rapu, Albay on May 23, 2025.  Ako Bicol party-list/File

Article (news)

Rep. Zaldy Co

Harlene Delgado

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/177638971187320251114-ako-bicol-rep-zaldy-co-ABPL9.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Ako Bicol Partylist Rep. Zaldy Co at the turnover of Solar Home Systems in Brgy. Galicia, Rapu-Rapu, Albay on May 23, 2025.  Ako Bicol party-list/File</span></span></span></div><p>MANILA — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. revealed Friday that former lawmaker Zaldy Co, a central figure in the flood control scandal, was stopped at the German border <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/4/16/zaldy-co-arrested-detained-in-prague-2155">before his arrest.</a></p><p>“The latest information confirms that Zaldy Co was stopped at the German border after entering from the Czech Republic,” Marcos wrote in an update on his official X account. </p><p>“He was denied entry and returned to Czech authorities, where he remains in custody,” he added.</p><p>The President noted that the Philippines’ coordination with Czech authorities continues.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/4/17/zaldy-co-may-be-back-in-ph-in-1-3-weeks-remulla-0723">Zaldy Co back in PH in &#x27;1-3 weeks&#x27;: Remulla</a></div><p>On Thursday night, Marcos announced that Co was arrested and detained in Prague.</p><p>The former Ako Bicol Party-list representative left the Philippines in mid-2025 supposedly to seek medical treatment abroad, but he refused to return to the country after Marcos opened an investigation into anomalous flood control projects, including those constructed by the Co-linked Sunwest Corp.</p><p>Co was further swept into the controversy after several Department of Public Works and Highways officials tagged him as among the high-ranking government officials who earned kickbacks from substandard or missing anti-flood infrastructures that amounted to hundreds of billions of pesos.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/4/17/profile-who-is-zaldy-co-0012">PROFILE: Who is Zaldy Co?</a></div><p>The House of Representatives tried to force Co to return to the Philippines by canceling his travel authority, but he resigned as Ako Bicol Party-list representative shortly before his peers could finalize the move.</p><p>While Co’s Philippine passport was canceled in December 2025, the former lawmaker was able to remain overseas reportedly through the use of a foreign passport and a golden visa from Portugal.</p><p>In February 2026, the Sandiganbayan declared Co a fugitive after charges of graft and malversation were filed against him over an anomalous road dike project in Naujan, Oriental Mindoro.</p><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZN0fXtxz_LQ?&amp;pp=0gcJCdMKAYcqIYzv&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Jp3ZwX2M-kA?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br style="caret-color:rgb(0, 0, 0);color:rgb(0, 0, 0)"/></div>

<p>President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. revealed Friday that former lawmaker Zaldy Co, a central figure in the flood control scandal, was stopped at the German border after entering from the Czech Republic.</p>

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. revealed Friday that former lawmaker Zaldy Co, a central figure in the flood control scandal, was stopped at the German border after entering from the Czech Republic.

Zaldy Co stopped at German border after entering from Czech Republic — Marcos

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Zaldy Co stopped at German border after entering from Czech Republic — Marcos

Harlene Delgado,

ABS-CBN News

Published April 17, 2026 09:36 AM PHT

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Updated April 17, 2026 09:37 AM PHT

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Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

Zaldy Co

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