Secretary Remulla to file anew Interpol ‘red notice’ request vs Zaldy Co

MANILA – Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla on Tuesday said he will fly to France to again file an International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) “red notice’’ request against ousted Ako Bicol Party-list congressman Zaldy Co.

The Interpol’s headquarters is in Lyon, France.

An Interpol red notice is a request to all law enforcement agencies worldwide to “locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender, or similar legal action.” The Philippine government initially filed the request in April this year.

In a press briefing held in Camp Crame, Remulla said he will fly to France together with Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla.

Co's last reported location was in Prague, Czech Republic.

"We are filing a red notice for Zaldy Co again. Coincidentally, I am also going to Lyon, France to follow up on his red notice with Interpol. So Ombudsman Boying announced that he is going to Paris also to talk to the authorities there," the DILG chief said.

"I will work with the Interpol, he will work with the diplomatic efforts to get Zaldy Co. As far as the other ones, I will wait for the further report; I can't say yet," he added.

Remulla said the hunt for Co and his co-accused in the anomalous flood control scandal is ongoing, but he did not say whether the Philippine National Police or his office had received any surrender feelers.

Co was again the subject of an arrest warrant issued by the Sandiganbayan, alongside Leyte 1st District Rep. Martin Romualdez, in connection with a plunder charge for over PHP7 billion worth of alleged kickbacks in various government projects.

Romualdez was arrested at the Cardinal Santos Medical Center in San Juan City on Monday night, after being confined for supposedly experiencing a “cardiovascular event.”

In April, Co had been tracked traveling across Europe by land, going from Portugal to France before reaching Prague, where he was caught with no proper documentation after his Philippine passport was canceled.

Czech authorities, however, later released Co. Authorities had previously located Co in Portugal. (PNA)