The graft charge lodged before the Sandiganbayan’s Seventh Division against former Ako Bicol representative Zaldy Co will sit dormant after investigators reported they had been unable to bring him into custody, the anti-graft court decided in a resolution dated June 24.
Placing a case in the archives suspends proceedings without throwing out the charges, a step courts take when nothing further can move forward until a defendant is within reach of the law.
The Seventh Division, led by Associate Justice Lorifel Pahimna, tied its action to the length of time Co has evaded capture. The court noted that Co remained at large for more than six months since the arrest warrant was issued against him in November 2025 in connection with anomalous flood control projects.
Court records point to a report filed by National Bureau of Investigation agent-on-case Rehom Pimentel, who stated that despite efforts undertaken, the accused could not be located at the address indicated in the Warrant of Arrest. Prosecutors told the court they had no fresh information on Co’s whereabouts beyond what already appeared in the file.
The resolution leaves the door open for the matter to resume. The division ordered the case archived without prejudice to its reinstatement or revival and withdrawal from the archives once the court acquires jurisdiction over Co’s person.
The charge before the Seventh Division stems from an alleged irregularity in a P289.5-million road dike project along the Mag-asawang Tubig River in Naujan, Oriental Mindoro. Co left the Philippines in July 2025 on a travel authority granted for medical treatment and did not return despite public appeals for him to do so. The Sandiganbayan issued warrants against him and his co-accused on Nov. 21, 2025.
That single count before the Seventh Division, a violation of Section 3(h) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, names Co alone among the accused, distinguishing it from the related graft and malversation cases pending in other divisions where he stands trial alongside DPWH officials and Sunwest Corporation directors.
