Marcos: Zaldy Co stopped at German border after entering from Czech Republic

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Friday said that former lawmaker Zaldy Co was stopped at the German border after entering from Czech Republic. 

A day after Co’s arrest was announced, Marcos said the Philippine government continues coordination with Czech officials.

“Our coordination with Czech authorities continues. The latest information confirms that Zaldy Co was stopped at the German border after entering from the Czech Republic,” Marcos said in a social media post. 

“He was denied entry and returned to Czech authorities, where he remains in custody,” he added.

Marcos on Thursday night announced the arrest in Prague of Co. 

READ: Who is Zaldy Co?

Co, former chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations, is facing charges of graft and malversation along with 15 others in connection with an alleged substandard P289 million flood control project in Naujan, Oriental Mindoro.

Co has denied allegations that he received kickbacks from ghost flood control projects as alleged in a Senate inquiry by former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Bulacan 1st District Enginner Henry Alcantara.

Co resigned from the House of Representatives on September 29, 2025, following the Independent Commission for Infrastructure’s (ICI) recommendation to the Ombudsman of the possible filing of graft, malversation, and falsification charges against him and several officials of the DPWH in Oriental Mindoro.

READ: The corruption of Philippine flood control projects

Before the Sandiganbayan on April 7, a lawyer with the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) testified that Co received P802 million from Sunwest Construction, the contractor of the alleged ghost P289 million flood control project in Naujan.

It was in March of this year when the Sandiganbayan upheld its declaration that Co was a fugitive from justice.

Co had come out with a series of videos accusing Marcos and his cousin, former Speaker Martin Romualdez, of orchestrating P100 billion in alleged insertions in the national budget.

The President and the former Speaker denied the allegations of Co, their former ally. —AOL/ VAL, GMA News