By Lane Afable, News Editor
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has summoned French and Czech envoys to discuss what can be done to bring home fugitive Zaldy Co, Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said on Tuesday.
This comes after Justice Secretary Fredderick Vida announced in a press conference that Co is no longer under the jurisdiction of the Czech Republic.
“The government will continue its efforts to bring Zaldy Co back to our country so that he can face the charges filed against him,” Castro, speaking Filipino, said during a press briefing.
“And tomorrow, there will be a meeting. The President has summoned the Ambassador of France and also the Ambassador of the Czech Republic, or the chargé d’affaires, to discuss what shortcomings there were, what should have been done, and what more can still be done to bring Zaldy Co back to our country,” she added.
The current Ambassador of France to the Philippines is Marie Fontanel, while the Czech Republic is represented by His Excellency Karel Hejč. Marcos’ meeting with them is scheduled for April 29 at 2 p.m.
Castro said part of the discussion will focus on what other countries can do to assist the Philippines, in line with the United Nations Convention Against Corruption, of which all three countries are member states.
“So, the case that Zaldy Co is facing involves malversation. The President will simply look into what more should have been done, because as far as we know—and as far as the President knows—everything that needed to be done has already been done,” she said in Filipino.
In the same briefing, Castro said that the former lawmaker is seeking political asylum in France on grounds of “political persecution.”
Out of the country since mid-2025, Co is facing criminal charges as one of the central figures in the public works corruption scandal.
In November, the Sandiganbayan antigraft court issued a warrant for his arrest and later ordered his passport canceled as he remained a fugitive.
