MANILA, Philippines — Navotas Rep. Toby Tiangco urged the House of Representatives to conduct a public hearing in aid of legislation to fast-track the implementation of an arrest warrant against former Ako Bicol Partylist representative Elizaldy Co.
Co remains at-large after being dragged in the flood control scandal involving projects allegedly bagged by his company, Sunwest.
In a statement on Saturday, Tiangco filed House Bill 808 which urges the House leadership to convene the Committee of the Whole to conduct a public inquiry in aid of legislation on the status of the arrest warrant against Co, and to recommend legislative measures, if necessary.
He further said that there should be a need for "clear cut guidelines" for enforcing arrest warrants when a subject was outside Philippine jurisdiction, and cited the conflicting positions of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) in implementing Co's warrant of arrest.
"DILG earlier said DFA is the agency primarily responsible for ensuring that Co will be successfully prosecuted before our Court. The DFA, however, clarified that the enforcement of legal processes against Co involves a 'whole-of-government approach.' Ano ba talaga at sino ba dapat ang ahensyang dapat manguna sa mga kasong gaya nito? (On whose agency should be responsible for cases such as this?), " Tiangco said.
Tiangco also stressed need to determine whether legislative gaps allowed individuals with substantial resources to evade legal processes and hide in foreign jurisdictions with which the Philippines has no extradition treaty.