DOJ says 'arrest' may not be right word for Zaldy Co situation

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April 24, 2026 | 11:23am

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Justice has issued clarifications that fugitive former congressman Zaldy Co has not been "arrested" in the Czech Republic — softening language used by the president himself when he announced Co was "caught (nahuli na)" and taken into "custody" last week.

DOJ spokesperson Polo Martinez made the remarks Thursday that the word "arrest" does not apply because Co has no outstanding warrant in the Czech Republic.  

The former lawmaker was apprehended at the German border after entering from the Czech Republic and is still in Czech authorities' jurisdiction.

Asked Friday, April 24, what action exactly applied to Co, the DOJ spokesperson said:

"We do not know yet the specific details of the intervention conducted on his person there. We’ll find out more once we have opened formal dialogue with Czech authorities."

What the president said

Marcos announced Co's detention on his Facebook page on April 16, writing: "Nahuli na si Zaldy Co. He is now detained in Prague after crossing into the Czech Republic without proper documentation and is currently in the custody of Czech authorities." 

Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla said the same day that Co had been caught and that authorities were "working towards his deportation."

In the days that followed, Marcos posted two more updates — saying Co had been stopped at the German border and returned to Czech custody, and that a high-level team would be sent to Prague to coordinate his return. Justice Secretary Fredderick Vida left for the Czech Republic yesterday.

What the DOJ is saying now

After the frenzy over the former lawmaker's alleged "arrest," Martinez on Friday described Co as "the subject of official law enforcement action by Czech authorities." 

Co remains within the Czech Republic's jurisdiction, the DOJ spokesperson confirmed.

"Arrest has a legal technical definition," he said. "An intervention involving Zaldy Co took place in Czech Republic — this fact was wholly ascertained and remains undisputed."

But he acknowledged the DOJ cannot describe the nature of that intervention.

"We do not know yet the specific details of the intervention conducted on his person there. We’ll find out more once we have opened formal dialogue with Czech authorities," the DOJ spokesperson told reporters. 

It is an important clarification that goes beyond using just the right, technical terms. There is a compelling case that the government was not wrong in substance: Co was apprehended, and he remains in Czech hands, this much the DOJ confirmed. 

What the DOJ is now clarifying is that the legal mechanics of what happened do not amount to an "arrest" as the term is understood in law, and that the Philippine government does not yet fully understand the process on the Czech side. 

For the past week, the Marcos administration had dismissed challenges to its claim of Co's arrest. 

When former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said on April 18 that Co had not been arrested in Prague, Palace press officer Claire Castro called Roque a "fake news peddler."  

At yesterday's Palace briefing, Castro was asked how confident the administration is that Co would be brought home.

"Kung Pilipinas lamang po ang pag-uusapan natin, definitely confident po tayo," Castro said. "Since mayroon pong ibang bansa na involve dito, so let us just hope na maibalik agad si Zaldy Co dito sa ating bansa," Castro said.

Co, the former Ako Bicol party-list representative who chaired the House appropriations committee during the first half of the Marcos presidency, faces three arrest warrants from the Sandiganbayan tied to the multibillion-peso flood control scandal.  

Co has been a fugitive since July 2025, when he left the country claiming medical treatment in the United States. The Sandiganbayan canceled his passport in December 2025, and the NBI requested an Interpol Red Notice the same month.