Malacañang confirmed that Co is seeking political asylum in France.
A “highly regarded diplomatic source” disclosed that fugitive former Ako Bicol party-list representative Zaldy Co is in Paris, France, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) chief said.
“I just want to tell you that the information that he is in Paris came from a highly regarded diplomatic source, which I cannot reveal because it was said to us in confidence,” Foreign Affairs Secretary Ma. Theresa Lazaro said during a Manila Overseas Press Club forum on Thursday, April 30.
“However, the embassy now is really looking intently on that,” Lazaro said.
The Philippine government has not confirmed a physical sighting of Co in France.
Malacañang confirmed that Co is seeking political asylum in France.
“Asylum issues, asylum seekers, it is just a very sensitive matter to Europe because it is EU regulations and it is their regulations. But rest assured that we are doing everything within the confines of the law on how to go about it,” Lazaro added.
She said the DFA has no confirmation from the Philippine embassy in Portugal on whether Co is a holder of a Portuguese passport, and Co’s regular passport – which expired in September 2022 – need not be cancelled since its expiration rendered it unusable for international travel.
The DFA issued the clarification on the passports of Co, who carried an expired passport when he was accosted by Czech authorities for an immigration violation.
Justice Secretary Fredderick Vida said records with the Bureau of Immigration showed Co held multiple passports.
Vida said Co was carrying a passport that expired in September 2022 when he was accosted by the authorities in Prague on April 16.
The DFA reiterated that the department canceled one regular and one diplomatic passport of Co by virtue of a court order in December 2025.
Lazaro believed Co presented his expired passport to cross into Germany from the Czech Republic.
Lacson defends partial flood control report
Meanwhile, Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson yesterday bristled at the remarks made by Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano about the partial flood control corruption report that is still lacking signatures.
Lacson was reacting to Cayetano’s interview in Taguig where he said those pushing for signing the report are “making a mountain out of a molehill.”
“Here’s my question: why so much fuss about the partial (report) when we have the opportunity to have the whole and bigger picture?” Cayetano said.
Lacson – who said the minority bloc is hindering the report from getting enough signatures to report it to plenary – said while he disagreed, the critics are entitled to their own opinion.
“While I disagree with those who do not want to sign, let me be clear that I respect and understand their individual decisions whatever their reasons are, including that of the minority leader,” he said.
Lacson said he is determined to report the findings of the probe to plenary by delivering a chairman’s report in the absence of a signed committee report.
He said this is to keep the public informed and to counter misinformation. – With an additional report from Marc Jayson Cayabyab