THE Sandiganbayan will begin the trial of former Ako Bicol party-list congressman Zaldy Co this month, with or without his presence, Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon said on Monday.
In a press briefing, Dizon said the trial would start on Jan. 20, and that he was one of those summoned to shed light on the cases against Co — who is hiding abroad — and some officials of his construction company, Sunwest Corp.
“On Jan. 20, I will testify at the Sandiganbayan in the trial of former congressman Zaldy Co. We will give you updates there on my sworn testimony in that case,” Dizon said.
“And of course, because I am the complainant in many of these cases, you will see me testifying in many cases in the coming weeks, next month as we continue this process of holding those who should be held accountable,” he added.
Co and his 15 co-accused in the alleged anomalous implementation of a P289-million road dike project in Oriental Mindoro are now in the derogatory database of the Bureau of Immigration (BI) following the issuance of warrants of arrest and hold departure orders (HDOs) by the Sandiganbayan.
Already arrested in connection with the cases were DPWH Mimaropa Regional Director Gerald Pacanan, Regional Director Gene Ryan Alurin Altea, Assistant Regional Director Ruben delos Santos Jr., Construction Division Chief Dominic Gregorio Serrano, Project Engineer Ill Felisardo Sevare Casuno, Maintenance Division Chief Juliet Cabungan Calvo, Bidding and Awards Committee Accountant IV Lerma Cayco, Bidding and Awards Committee OIC Dennis Abagond, and DPWH Mimaropa Planning and Design Division OIC Montrexis Tamayo.
Co had earlier denied all the allegations against him and posted videos online accusing the president and his cousin, former speaker Martin Romualdez, of being behind the flood control bribery scam.
The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) have recommended to the Office of the Ombudsman the filing of new plunder, graft and direct bribery charges against Co and several other members of the House of Representatives linked to congressmen who are also contractors.
Aside from Co, who resigned as representative of Ako Bicol party-list, also on the list were incumbent CWS party-list Rep. Edwin Gardiola, Uswag Ilonggo party-list Rep. James Ang Jr., Pusong Pinoy party-list Rep. Jernie Jett Nisay, Bulacan Rep. Augustina Pancho, Cagayan Rep. Joseph Lara, Surigao del Norte Rep. Francisco Matugas, and Tarlac Rep. Noel Rivera.
Based on the original two-page referral letter submitted to the Ombudsman on Nov. 21, the name of Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez was also on the list in his capacity as former House speaker.
“Subject to the honorable Ombudsman’s prerogative to determine the appropriate charges against the erring public officials and private individuals referred to in the allegations and the attached documents, it is respectfully recommended that the Office of the Ombudsman conduct an investigation on Rep. Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez, Elizaldy S. Co, and members of the board of directors of Sunwest, Inc. [formerly Sunwest Construction and Development Corp.] and Hi-Tone Construction and Development Corp., and any and all other parties,” the referral letter read.
Dizon also noted that the findings were only preliminary in nature and without prejudice to any additional findings of liability or the possible implication of other persons that may arise in the course of the evaluation and/or investigation by the Office of the Ombudsman.
Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla said the evidence provided by DPWH and ICI was of great help in strengthening and accelerating the progress of the case against the congressmen-contractors.
Dizon expressed belief that the government has a “solid” or airtight case against the accused, saying that more charges will be filed against private individuals and government officials.
“That is the instruction of the president to the DPWH — to ensure that our cases are solid. We believe that we have a solid case. With these cases, we can easily convict the individuals we are now accusing,” he added.
More cars to be seized
The Philippine National Police-Highway Patrol Group (PNP-HPG), meanwhile, said it is expecting to seize 10 more luxury cars believed to be linked to Co.
HPG director BGen. Hansel Marantan said they have information that 24 luxury vehicles allegedly owned by Co and companies believed to be connected to him were kept in a parking area of a condominium in Taguig City.
“Ten more vehicles are still on the Highway Patrol Group’s list. Those are the ones we are looking for,” Marantan said in Filipino.
He declined to disclose details about the cars but said these were under the care of Co’s personnel.
On Thursday last week, 14 of the 24 vehicles were seized by HPG agents. Twelve of these were turned over to the Independent Commission for Infrastructure, while the two remained in the Taguig condominium parking lot since they “could not be driven.” “We are still retrieving the two vehicles. One has no key, and the other has a key but doesn’t seem to start. Since they’re luxury vehicles, we are being very careful. We don’t want to damage them,” Marantan said in Filipino.
An HPG team was assigned to conduct forensic tests on all the vehicles to dig into their clearances, chassis numbers and other registration documents.
Marantan said he received information that firearms were being kept in the vehicles.
However, during the search, “no firearms were found. But we are still verifying,” he said.
The Manila Times sought the reaction of Co’s lawyer, Ruy Rondain, who earlier called out police officers for illegally stopping and searching the vehicles, forcibly taking their keys, and even intimidating and detaining the drivers.
The confiscated cars included high-end models such as Rolls-Royce, Toyota Sequoia, Cadillac Escalade, and Lexus.