VARIOUS civil society groups and fellow lawmakers demanded “full public reckoning” and recovery of funds following the reported arrest of former Ako Bicol lawmaker Zaldy Co in Prague on Thursday, April 16, 2026.
Co, along with other House members and top officials from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), has been accused of pocketing billions of pesos in funds for flood control projects that were found to have anomalies, while some were "ghost projects."
“This is a litmus test for the current administration's anti-corruption campaign,” said Pete Ilagan, president of civil society group PH Haiyan Advocacy based in Tacloban City.
“The public isn't just looking for an arrest; they are looking for the recovery of funds and actual convictions,” Ilagan told Sunstar Philippines on Friday, April 17.
Ilagan was keen on the development of Co’s arrest after Tacloban, which was the ground zero during the 2013 Super Typhoon Yolanda, is a recipient of the national government’s Causeway Project with fund amounting to P4.59 billion being implemented by a construction company reportedly owned by the controversial Ako Bicol representative.
“Corruption in projects such as flood control has direct and devastating consequences on farmers. Poorly implemented or irregular infrastructure projects exacerbate flooding, damage crops, destroy livelihoods, and push already struggling rural families further into poverty,” said Danny Carranza, secretary general of Kilusan para sa Repormang Agraryo at Katarungang Panlipunan (Katarungan), a national movement of peasants.
“We expect that this case will be pursued with transparency, urgency, and impartiality. Accountability must not stop at one individual, but should extend to all those involved, regardless of position or influence,” added Carranza.
Meanwhile, progressive lawmakers ACT Teachers Representatives Antonio Tinio, Gabriela Women’s Party Representative Sarah Jane Elago, and Kabataan Representative Atty. Renee Louise Co, in a joint statement, maintained that the arrest of Co "finally opens the door for him to face the serious cases filed against him in the Philippines."
"His return must not be reduced to a media spectacle or a convenient ending; it must be the beginning of a full public reckoning over the flood control scam and the broader system of corruption in public works and budgeting," the lawmakers said on April 17.
Significant development
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Thursday confirmed that they are “in close coordination with the Czech government to ensure that all legal processes are followed and to arrange for his return to the Philippines at the soonest possible time.”
Ricardo Todio Jr., leader of Association of Young Environmentalist Journalists of the Philippines (Ayej)-Leyte Chapter, said the arrest of Co “is a significant development.”
“I hope it will be taken seriously, because he is one of those behind the flood control issue. There should also be an immediate investigation and a fair and transparent questioning of Zaldy Co, so that we can find out who else is involved and how they are able to carry out this kind of scheme using public funds,” Todio said in an interview.
In November 2025, the anti-graft court issued a warrant of arrest against Co, a former chairperson of the House Committee on Appropriations that oversees the national government budget, for graft and malversation in connection with an allegedly anomalous multi-million road dike project in Naujan, Oriental Mindoro.
Co was declared a “fugitive from justice” after failing to submit to the jurisdiction of the Sandiganbayan.
The flood control scam issue has been the constant source of public outrage and street protests across the nation since last year, as millions of Filipinos face flooding despite annual allocations of funds for flood control projects.
In November 2025 alone, at least 114 people died and 127 remained missing amid widespread flooding due to monsoons and typhoons. (Ronald O. Reyes/SunStar Philippines)
