Former presidential spokesman Harry Roque pushed back Friday against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s announcement that fugitive ex-lawmaker Zaldy Co had been arrested, asserting in a social media post that no Filipino was apprehended in Germany and taking direct aim at the president over the claim.
Marcos had said Thursday night that Co — wanted in the Philippines on graft and malversation charges tied to a P289.5-million flood control project in Naujan, Oriental Mindoro — was detained in Prague after entering the Czech Republic without proper travel documents. The following day, the president updated his account, saying Co had been stopped at the German border after crossing from the Czech Republic, was refused entry, and subsequently returned to Czech custody.
It is that border incident that Roque zeroed in on, disputing that any arrest of a Filipino national took place on German soil.
Co, who chaired the powerful House Appropriations Committee under the Marcos administration before fleeing the Philippines in July 2025, has been the subject of an intense multi-agency manhunt. The Sandiganbayan formally declared him a fugitive from justice after he repeatedly failed to appear in court. His Philippine passport was canceled in December 2025, and the National Bureau of Investigation had applied for an Interpol Red Notice to facilitate his detention abroad.
Since going into hiding, Co has positioned himself as a Marcos accuser, releasing a series of videos from an undisclosed location alleging that the president and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez received billions in kickbacks from anomalous flood control projects — claims the Palace has dismissed as fabricated.
Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla said Friday that repatriating Co could take between one and three weeks, with complications arising from the fact that any deportation order would be based on a canceled passport. “Maybe as little as one week, but as long as three weeks. It depends on the DFA. They are the elite here, not me. I’m just in coordination,” Remulla said.
An international law expert separately cautioned that Co’s return would not be automatic, noting that Czech authorities would need to conduct a case-by-case assessment of his legal status — a process made more complex by the possibility of dual nationality or alternative travel documentation.
Roque himself remains abroad and is facing non-bailable human trafficking charges in the Philippines linked to his alleged role as legal counsel for Lucky South 99, a scam POGO hub in Pampanga where over 180 individuals were rescued in 2024. His own passport was canceled by the Department of Foreign Affairs last November.
