Zaldy Co holed up in 200-million-euro Paris mansion, says Remulla

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MANILA, Philippines — Fugitive lawmaker Zaldy Co is hiding out in a 10-bedroom mansion on the Champs-Élysées in Paris, France, that is worth an estimated 200 million euros, Interior and Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla said Friday, May 8. 

The mansion, Remulla said, sits near the Christian Dior flagship in Paris. 

"It's big, the ceilings are high, 10 bedrooms," Remulla said in mixed English and Filipino at a public forum. "Probably worth maybe 200 million euros. That's where he's staying now." 

Co was briefly located in the Czech Republic in April after he was caught traveling with an expired Philippine passport. But the justice department later clarified Co was not arrested and there was no active warrant for him at the time. 

By April 27, Co was no longer in Czech custody and had reportedly been on the move in the Schengen area. He is, based on Remulla's information, apparently now hiding out in Paris. 

The DILG chief said the government had long suspected Co owned a house in France and initially theorized he was traveling on a Portuguese passport.  

The former lawmaker's last known itinerary, Remulla said, took him through Portugal, Italy, France and Prague before he attempted to enter Germany, where he was detained for 36 hours, taken to Prague, and freed after roughly 72 hours following court proceedings. 

Co only recently filed a petition for political asylum in France, Remulla said. 

Under European Union asylum rules, an applicant can file in only one country.

Co, who previously chaired the powerful House appropriations committee during the first half of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s term, is accused of plunder and graft in connection with the billions of pesos in allegedly siphoned flood control funds. 

He is facing multiple criminal charges stemming from a P289.5-million road dike project in Naujan, Oriental Mindoro, that was later found to have had bogus accomplishment reports and questionable certifications.

Co has been wanted for arrest since November 2025.

Marcos had summoned the French and Czech ambassadors to Malacañang on April 30 to personally express his disappointment over Co's successful attempt to evade arrest. 

— Cristina Chi