MANILA, Philippines — Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla on Thursday said he would be coordinating with counterparts in Sweden after it was reported that fugitive former lawmaker Zaldy Co traveled to the European country.
Co was believed to be hiding in a gated community in Portugal where he was a passport holder but surprised everyone when his camp submitted a petition before the Supreme Court he supposedly signed before a notary public in Stockholm, Sweden last Jan. 15.
“In fact, I am leaving tonight. I’m gonna be making some coordination calls. Maybe you’ll hear from me in the next two weeks,” Remulla told reporters in a chance interview at Camp Crame on the sidelines of the Philippine National Police anniversary.
Because he was using a foreign passport, Co could travel around the borderless region, said Remulla.
“Now we’re gonna go hard on him. We will have his passport redflagged. We’re going to get a copy of the passport and we’ll put it through Interpol so that he can’t leave Portugal and, if he leaves, we can catch him,” Remulla said.
Since the Philippines has no extradition treaty with Portugal, the country cannot extradite Co back to the Philippines even if he has a pending case. Portuguese law only allows extradition if a crime was committed before the issuance of the passport, Remulla said.
Records however showed, Remulla said, that Co acquired his Portuguese passport over 10 years ago but his crimes only broke out recently which made negotiations for his return complicated.