Zaldy Co ‘not technically arrested,’ DOJ insists
Ako Bicol party-list Rep. Elizaldy Co (Official Facebook page of Rep. Zaldy Co)
MANILA, Philippines — Was former Ako Bicol Rep. Elizaldy “Zaldy” Co arrested or not?
The spokesperson for the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Friday explained that the ex-lawmaker, whose detention in Prague was announced by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on the night of April 16, was “not technically arrested.”
“To clarify, while he was not technically arrested, his liberty was restrained. For analogy, it’s similar to a situation in the airport where the person arrives and immigration denies entry or excludes the person. Technically, not arrested but there is a deprivation of liberty to a certain degree,” Justice Undersecretary Polo Martinez told reporters.
READ: DOJ chief Vida heads to Prague to secure Zaldy Co return to PH
Martinez stressed that the term “arrest” has a distinct legal definition.
“(Co) was the subject of official law enforcement action by Czech authorities. Latest report we have is that he is still within the jurisdiction of Czech authorities,” he said.
Still, the very action of Czech authorities of finding him and blocking his entry to Germany “remains undisputed,” Martinez said.
In the announcement Marcos made on his social media channel, he opened with a line in Filipino: “Nahuli na si Zaldy Co.”
“Nahuli” can be commonly translated to English as “captured.” Another close synonym, given the legal and law enforcement context of Co’s case, is “arrest.”
Marcos then said that Co was “detained in Prague after crossing into the Czech Republic without proper documentation.’’
‘Not from the president’
In a separate statement to reporters, Palace press officer Claire Castro maintained that the term “arrest” did not come from the president.
“What the president said was that Co was in the custody of the Czech Republic due to lack of proper documentation. He was apprehended due to immigration concerns,” Castro said.
Justice Secretary Fredderick Vida left for the Czech Republic on Thursday, together with chief state counsel Dennis Chan, to facilitate the immediate return of Co to the Philippines.
The DOJ declined to name the other members of the Philippine delegation, but said the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Philippine Center on Transnational Crime were also helping in exploring legal options, such as deportation or extradition.
Martinez acknowledged that taking the extradition route would be more challenging since Manila and Prague have no applicable treaty in place.
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. /das
