{"id":19838,"date":"2026-04-29T01:58:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T17:58:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/?p=19838"},"modified":"2026-04-29T01:58:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T17:58:13","slug":"zaldy-co-no-longer-in-czech-custody-now-in-france-seeking-political-asylum-palace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/index.php\/2026\/04\/29\/zaldy-co-no-longer-in-czech-custody-now-in-france-seeking-political-asylum-palace\/","title":{"rendered":"ZALDY CO NO LONGER IN CZECH CUSTODY, NOW IN FRANCE SEEKING POLITICAL ASYLUM &#8212; PALACE"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>MALACA\u00d1ANG<\/strong><strong> on Tuesday said the Philippine government will coordinate with foreign counterparts to facilitate the return of fugitive and former Ako Bicol party-list Rep. Zaldy Co to the country so he may face charges related to the alleged ghost flood-control projects of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cNananatiling matatag ang posisyon ng pamahalaan. We will work with foreign governments through every legal channel available, under international laws, to bring Zaldy Co home and face the graft and malversation cases filed against him,\u201d Presidential Communications Office (PCO) Undersecretary and Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said during a Palace press briefing.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cGagawin natin ang lahat ng naaayon sa batas at sa diplomatikong proseso,\u201d Castro added. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Malaca\u00f1ang on Tuesday confirmed that fugitive former lawmaker Zaldy Co is no longer under the custody of the Czech Republic and is now in France where he is seeking political asylum.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cThe DFA has received highly reliable information that Zaldy Co has a pending petition for political asylum in France,\u201d the Palace Press Officer said.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Co is facing charges of corruption and malversation of public funds in connection with alleged ghost flood-control projects.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Castro said President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. is also set to meet with officials of France and the Czech Republic at the Palace as part of ongoing diplomatic engagements on the matter.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cSa ating pagkakaalam ay magkakaroon sila ng pag-uusap. Si Pangulo po ay makikipag-usap sa Ambassador of France bukas ng hapon. At sa ating pagkakaalam, ang ambassador ng Czech Republic ay wala sa Pilipinas, kaya iniimbitahan din po ng Pangulo ang charg\u00e9 d\u2019affaires,\u201d she noted.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Castro said that Malaca\u00f1ang received information from Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretary Fredderick Vida and Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Secretary Ma. Theresa Lazaro about Co.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cNgayong umaga (Tuesday) natanggap na ng Malaca\u00f1ang ang kumpletong ulat mula kay Justice Secretary Vida at Foreign Affairs Secretary Lazaro kaugnay ng kalagayan ni Zaldy Co. Batay sa kanilang high-level engagements sa mga opisyal ng Czech Republic at sa mga kinatawan ng European Union, malinaw na ang mga hakbang na ginagawa ay nakaangkla sa paggalang sa umiiral na mga batas ng EU at ng kani-kanilang member-states,\u201d she added.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Castro said such matters require intensive diplomatic processes and coordination at the highest levels.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cSa kasalukuyan, kumpirmadong wala na sa kustodiya ng Czech authorities si Zaldy Co\u2026All missions in Europe have been instructed to obtain further official confirmation,\u201d the Malaca\u00f1ang official said. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>|<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>MALACA&Ntilde;ANG on Tuesday said the Philippine government will coordinate with foreign counterparts to facilitate the return of fugitive and former Ako Bicol party-list Rep. Zaldy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":19839,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5,17,1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19838"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19838"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19838\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19840,"href":"https:\/\/journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19838\/revisions\/19840"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19839"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19838"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19838"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19838"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}