Dy orders Zaldy Co to return to PH

Metro Manila, Philippines - House Speaker Bojie Dy revoked the travel authority issued to Ako Bicol Rep. Zaldy Co and ordered the former appropriations chairperson’s immediate return to the country.

He gave Co, who is on medical leave in the United States, to return to the country within 10 calendar days from receipt of notice.

“This revocation is issued in the paramount interest of the public and due to the existence of pressing national matters requiring your physical presence,” Dy said in his letter to Co dated Thursday, Sept. 18, and released to the media on Friday.

“Failure to comply with this directive within the prescribed period shall be construed as a refusal to subject yourself to the lawful processes of the House of Representatives and may result in the initiation of appropriate disciplinary and legal actions,” the speaker said.

Co has been implicated in alleged multimillion-peso anomalies in flood control funds, in particular billions in project insertions in the national budget.

He co-founded Sunwest, which President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. named as among the top contractors that cornered billions of pesos in projects in the last three years. Sunwest is a conglomerate primarily engaged in construction.

The lawmaker said he had divested his interests in the company in 2019. His colleagues, including presidential son and House Majority Leader Sandro Marcos, told Co to face the accusations.