BI on heightened alert for Zaldy Co, 15 others

MANILA, Philippines, November 24 ------ Immigration personnel stationed at international airports and seaports are under heightened alert for former Ako Bicol party-list representative Zaldy Co and 15 of his co-accused.

Their names have been encoded into the Bureau of Immigration’s centralized derogatory database, ensuring that frontline officers can immediately flag, verify and respond should any of them attempt to depart from or enter the Philippines, BI Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado said. “Once intercepted, our officers are under strict instruction to promptly coordinate with the Philippine National Police for the proper and lawful execution of the warrants,” Viado said.

He assured the public that the BI remains fully aligned with law enforcement agencies to ensure that the warrants are executed once these individuals present themselves at the country’s ports. Co and three other persons ordered arrested by the Sandiganbayan are currently out of the country, the BI yesterday announced.

Viado said Co left for Singapore on Aug. 6, while Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) officer-in-charge of Planning and Design Division Montrexis Tamayo went to Qatar on Nov. 15; Sunwest Inc. president and board chairman Aderma Angelie Alcazar traveled to Australia on Oct. 2; and Sunwest Inc. treasurer Cesar Buenaventura departed for the United Arab Emirates also on Oct. 2. It was only last September when Co’s name was included in the BI’s Immigration Lookout Bulletin Order, while the three others were recently added to the ILBO.

Vice President Sara Duterte yesterday said “to see is to believe” if the Marcos administration would be able to apprehend Co. Duterte, who was asked by News 5 at the “DU30 Run” event in Davao City, said, “To see is to believe. So, we will see the sincerity of the administration to go after the perpetrators in the flood control scandal corruption, if we see that they presented the evidence well and in order and if there would be people who would be held accountable.” When asked for her comment on the recommendation of DPWH and the Independent Commission for Infrastructure to prosecute former speaker and Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez, the Vice President said, “Of everyone that the administration said it will file a case and put in jail, to see is to believe.”

Source: philstar.com