Lawyers of Zaldy Co, Romualdez’s co-accused, appear for plunder pretrial

MANILA, Philippines — The lawyers of former Ako Bicol Rep. Zaldy Co made a special appearance on Friday at the Sandiganbayan Third Division during the pretrial proceeding of former House Speaker Martin Romualdez for plunder.

Co and two others are among the co-accused of Romualdez in this case over alleged kickbacks worth P7.44 billion.

Gabrielle Rondain-Kapunan and Harvey Padilla made a special appearance before the anti-graft court Third Division chaired by Associate Justice Karl Miranda.

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READ: Witness DPWH yet to give COS Sunwest P14M meant to fix defects

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Miranda asked if Co — who remains at large — intends to voluntary surrender, but Rondain-Kapunan said “I have no personal knowledge” about the matter.

Miranda said the court will order the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group and the National Bureau of Investigation to inform them what actions were taken to serve the arrest warrant against Co.

The justice also asked them if they intend to seek any relief for Co. 

Rondain-Kapunan and Padilla whispered to each other before responding to Miranda’s query.

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“Not at this time, your honor,” Rondain-Kapunan said.

Deputy Special Prosecutor Omar Sagadal manifested that the Sandiganbayan Sixth Division has already declared Co as a fugitive from justice.

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A respondent declared as a fugitive from justice could no longer participate in the proceedings and could not seek any judicial relief unless they  surrender voluntarily.

The former lawmaker is reportedly in France.

Co is facing a malversation case in the Sixth Division over a ₱289 million road dike project in Oriental Mindoro built by Sunwest, a contracting company he co-founded, which was found with serious structural deficiencies.

He also is facing another malversation case before Sandiganbayan Fourth Division over a P77 million Sunwest project in Bulacan which prosecutors alleged to be non-existent.