November 24, 2025 | 11:57am
MANILA, Philippines — Former Ako Bicol Rep. Zaldy Co still holds an active Philippine passport because the Department of Foreign Affairs has not been ordered to cancel it as of Monday morning, November 24.
“As of this morning, we have not received a court order instructing the DFA to cancel his passport,” DFA Spokesperson Angelica Escalona told reporters in a message.
Law enforcers over the weekend amped up efforts to hunt down Co after the Sandiganbayan issued arrest warrants for him and 15 others last Friday in connection with anomalies in a P289.5-million flood control project in Oriental Mindoro.
Co faces two counts of graft and one count of malversation through falsification filed by the Office of the Ombudsman.
The DFA cannot, by itself, cancel a person’s passport just because an arrest warrant has been issued for them. Canceling a passport requires a court order that explicitly cites the reason for cancellation under the grounds defined by Republic Act 11983 of the New Philippine Passport Act, such as being a fugitive, criminal conviction, or serious security/public interest reasons.
Arrest efforts. Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla said Monday that Interpol had issued a blue notice for Co. A blue notice allows international police to collect information on a person’s identity, location or activities related to a criminal investigation, according to Interpol.
Remulla said a red notice — used to request the location and arrest of a wanted person — may follow now that a court has issued warrants. He added that authorities do not yet know Co’s whereabouts and are verifying information that he may be traveling with a non-Philippine passport.
The DILG secretary earlier said he had given Co and the others until today, November 24, to surrender. Should they not turn themselves in, Remulla said they would then be considered fugitives from justice.
Police attempting to serve the warrant at Co’s condominium unit in Taguig City over the weekend found it locked and “temporarily abandoned,” according to reports from the Southern Police District.