Remullas flying to France to seek help in finding Co

Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla (left) and Ombudsman Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla MANILA, Philippines — Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla will also fly to France to follow up with the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) the Philippine government’s request for a red notice against resigned lawmaker and fugitive Zaldy Co. Remulla disclosed this at a press briefing on Tuesday, after his brother, Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla, said on Monday that he would travel to France to work with authorities there to find Co, who is believed to be seeking asylum in that country. READ: Remulla to visit France amid Zaldy Co and Loren Legarda’s stay Article continues after this advertisement “We will again file a request for a red notice against Zaldy Co. Coincidentally, I am going to Lyon, France, to follow up [Co’s] red notice at the Interpol,” said the chief of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG). Locate and arrest An Interpol red notice is a request for law enforcement agencies worldwide to “locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender, or similar legal action.” “I will work with the Interpol. He (Ombudsman Remulla) will work with the diplomatic efforts [to get] Zaldy Co,” said the younger Remulla. The Interpol’s headquarters are in Lyon, the city east of France that is widely acknowledged as the country’s culinary capital. Co, who was charged in November last year in connection with a flood control project in Occidental Mindoro, was again the subject of an arrest warrant issued on Monday by the Sandiganbayan. Article continues after this advertisement Apart from the resigned Ako Bicol party list lawmaker, the antigraft court also ordered the arrest of former Speaker and Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez for plunder. The pair is accused of receiving around P7.44 billion in kickbacks from government projects between 2022 and 2025. The amount, according to the information filed by the Office of the Ombudsman before the Sandiganbayan, allegedly came from contractors, persons and entities with interests in flood control, infrastructure and/or other government projects that were funded under the General Appropriations Act for fiscal years 2022 to 2025. Article continues after this advertisement Romualdez, who is confined at Cardinal Santos Medical Center in San Juan City for a “cardiovascular event,” has asked the court to allow him to remain at the hospital after his arrest. In their motion for continued hospital confinement, his lawyers cited his “documented cardiac history,” diabetes and primary hypothyroidism, among other ailments. /cb Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again. Your subscription has been successful.