Zaldy staying in P14 billion house in Paris – Jonvic

Co’s lawyer: If Jonvic can find house, he can keep it

MANILA, Philippines — Fugitive former Ako Bicol party-list congressman Zaldy Co is staying at a posh home in Paris while waiting for the results of his application for asylum, according to Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla.

Remulla said Co, the alleged mastermind of the multibillion-peso flood control corruption scandal, continues to live a luxurious lifestyle along Champs-Elysees, the main avenue in Paris.

“He has a house in Champs-Elysees, 10 bedrooms near Christian Dior. Probably worth 200 million dollars, euros, a house like that,” Remulla said yesterday at the Kapihan ng Samahang Plaridel news forum in Manila.

Ruy Rondain, Co’s lawyer, denied that his client owns a 10-bedroom residence in Paris worth P14 billion.

“I know for a fact that Rep. Co does not own a 10-bedroom flat in Paris. If he can find one, Sec. Remulla can keep it, along with the P5 billion in crypto he claims Rep. Co has,” Rondain told The STAR in a text message.

According to Remulla, Co has applied for asylum in France, a process which usually takes about six months.

Co was apprehended last month for attempting to enter Germany with an expired passport, Remulla said. The ex-lawmaker was brought to Prague in the Czech Republic where he was detained.

Remulla said he was the one who informed President Marcos of Co’s status in Prague, which was relayed to him by the Bureau of Immigration.

Acting Justice Secretary Fredderick Vida and his delegation went to the Czech Republic to coordinate Co’s possible deportation to the Philippines. However, Co was only detained in Prague for about 36 hours and was released by Czech authorities.

While the Philippine government had immediately sent its nearest ambassador and attaché to the Czech Republic, Remulla said: “We were late in sending our lawyer.”

Remulla added that the situation was different with Co as there was already a lawyer who assisted him. “I think it went through court proceedings and he got a lawyer and he was released,” he said.

With Co’s asylum request in France still pending, Remulla said they are banking on the application for a red notice alert against the former congressman from the International Criminal Police Organization or Interpol.

The government, through the Philippine Center on Transnational Crime, applied for a red notice from the Interpol in September 2025.

Asked for the possible reason, Remulla said: “It turns out the laws in the Philippines are different from Interpol. There, if there is a bit of political inkling, they delay it, they have their own investigation.”

Despite the delay, Remulla is confident they would be able to get Co and bring him back to the country, adding that Co’s world is getting smaller every day.

‘Reveal the truth’

Former House speaker Martin Romualdez and Co should reveal the truth of the flood control scandal, Vice President Sara Duterte said yesterday.

“Martin Romualdez and Zaldy Co are saying different things. If it is true that Zaldy Co and Martin Romualdez are interested in justice, not just for themselves, but for the people and the Philippines, they should reveal the truth,” Duterte said in an interview in The Hague, Netherlands. 

Romualdez has issued a warning to the administration of his cousin, President Marcos, saying that the controversy surrounding anomalous flood control projects be handled strictly within legal bounds and not in the “court of public opinion.”

Invoking his long experience in public service, Romualdez suggested he possesses sensitive information that could surface if the issue is politicized.

He also warned that any attempt to single him out in the flood control controversy would not go unchallenged.

The Leyte lawmaker’s remarks came amid what he described as “disturbing” indications that certain sectors are trying to “weaponize” individuals, including Co, to implicate him in the alleged kickback scheme tied to flood control projects.

Romualdez maintained that accountability should follow institutional processes, stressing that the chamber is a “collegial body.”

Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla earlier disclosed his office is preparing plunder charges against Romualdez and former Senate president Francis Escudero, with possible filing expected within May, and confirmed that a separate money laundering probe has been endorsed to the Anti-Money Laundering Council.

Curlee back in Senate detention

Flood control contractor Curlee Discaya is back in the Senate after he was brought to hospital last week for a shoulder surgery.

Senate Secretary Mark Llandro Mendoza said Discaya was returned to the Senate Thursday morning to continue his recovery while under custody.

Discaya was taken by Senate security to an undisclosed hospital on Thursday last week for his shoulder pains. This was not Discaya’s first hospital visit. He was last brought to the hospital on March 5 for the same concern.

Discaya has been under Senate custody since September last year after he was cited in contempt for lying to the Blue Ribbon committee investigating ghost or substandard government flood control projects.

His contractor wife, Sarah Discaya, is detained at the Lapu-Lapu city jail in Cebu for her non-bailable malversation case involving an alleged P96.5-million ghost flood control project in Davao Occidental.

Sandigan defers decision on Revilla

The Sandiganbayan Third Division has deferred for 30 days the resolution of the petitions for bail filed by former senator Ramon Revilla Jr. and his six co-accused in the malversation case involving the P92.8-million alleged ghost flood control project in Pandi, Bulacan.

The ruling was originally scheduled for May 6 but the anti-graft court requested an extension to resolve the petitions due to the volume of records, the number of transcript notes of the bail hearings and additional submissions from two of the accused.

Former Department of Public Works and Highways Bulacan First District Engineering Office engineer Jaypee Mendoza had filed a late petition for bail, while DPWH First DEO finance section chief Juanito Mendoza filed a late supplemental memorandum.

“On behalf of the court’s Third Division, please be informed that the court was constrained to request for an extension of time to resolve the accused’s separate petition/s for bail in the case of People of the Philippines vs. Ramon Bautista Bong Revilla, Jr., et al., considering the volume of records generated by the proceedings and the number of transcript of stenographic notes containing the witnesses’ extensive testimonies,” lawyer Dennis Pulma, clerk of court of the Sandiganbayan Third Division, said in a statement.

“The period of extension is 30 days, beginning May 7, 2026,” he added.

Aside from Revilla and the Mendozas, other respondents include engineers Brice Hernandez, Arjay Domasig, Emelita Juat and cashier Christina Pineda.

The court had concluded the hearings for Revilla’s and his co-accused’s bail petitions on April 24, where the prosecution presented state witness and former DPWH undersecretary Roberto Bernardo. — Bella Cariaso, Marc Jayson Cayabyab, Daphne Galvez