Philippines’ Marcos seeks Singapore, Malaysia help over lawmaker-turned-fugitive’s jet, helicopters
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Philippine Public Works Minister Vince Dizon says lawmaker-turned-fugitive Zaldy Co owns at least one Gulfstream jet and two helicopters.
PHOTO: PHILIPPINE DAILY INQUIRER/ANN
Follow topic:
MANILA – Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr has reached out to Malaysia and Singapore, where he said a former lawmaker may be hiding his aircraft that are among assets his government has frozen
Mr Marcos last week ordered the arrest of former lawmaker Zaldy Co and other individuals allegedly tied to a graft scandal involving money meant for flood infrastructure.
“You cannot steal from the Filipino people and expect to hide or fly away on your private jets,” Mr Marcos said in a video posted on his Facebook account on Nov 28. “You have the money to run, but you cannot outrun the Republic of the Philippines.”
The assets of Co, who’s currently at large, are among those immobilised by the Philippine government as it strengthens efforts to hold to account
Philippine graft investigators have said Co owns a Gulfstream G350 executive jet valued at more than US$26 million (S$34 million). The aircraft had been in Singapore since Aug 16, they said.
Co also reportedly owns two AgustaWestland helicopters that were reportedly flown to Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, on Aug 20 and Sept 11.
Mr Marcos also announced that a dismissed public works official implicated in the scandal has returned 110 million pesos (S$2.4 million) to the government and plans to turn over 200 million pesos more.
“This government intends to bring back every peso, every asset, every person responsible and return it to the Filipino people,” he said.
The Philippines is in the grip of a scandal involving government ministers, senators, members of Congress and wealthy businesspeople.
Earlier in November, hundreds of thousands of Filipinos packed Manila’s Rizal Park, demanding accountability for billions in missing flood-control funds. There were similar protests in September.
Back behind the wall
Mr Marcos was elected in 2022 on the back of high public expectations. But that goodwill is swiftly fading as Filipinos learn that many projects touted during his administration were defective, or worse – never built.
Protesters are demanding the arrest of those implicated in the graft and the return of stolen public money.
Government officials say that over the past decade, losses due to corruption exceed a trillion pesos.
The authorities have detained several suspects and more are being pursued.
Mr Marcos has pledged to jail those responsible by Christmas to contain the crisis that rapidly engulfing his administration.
Co, the former lawmaker, said in a Facebook video earlier in November that Mr Marcos himself received kickbacks from 100 billion pesos of project spending the president allegedly ordered to be included in the 2025 budget.
Mr Marcos’ office called Co’s allegations “propaganda”.
In another video released on Nov 24, Co said that from 2022 to 2025, he arranged for as much as 56 billion pesos in kickbacks from flood-control projects to be given to Mr Marcos and his cousin, former House of Representatives speaker Martin Romualdez.
In response Mr Marcos said Co should return home
“For it to mean something, he should come home, face his charges. If there’s something he wants to say, say it,” Mr Marcos said at a briefing on Nov 24. “Why are you hiding far away? I’m not hiding. If you have an accusation against me, I’m here.” BLOOMBERG
