President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Wednesday, November 26, claimed that a lawyer for former lawmaker Zaldy Co tried to “blackmail” the government by proposing that authorities stop plans to cancel Co’s passport in exchange for halting the release of online videos attacking administration officials.
Marcos disclosed the alleged attempt during his latest national report on the flood-control corruption probe.
He said Co’s lawyer personally approached Malacañang and offered to stop the “tell-all” videos if officials would drop the passport cancellation.
The President rejected the offer outright and described the approach as a direct attempt to influence official action.
Marcos said he does not negotiate with individuals he considers to be acting criminally and insisted that Co’s passport cancellation will proceed regardless of any further videos.
Co continues to upload videos accusing several officials, including Marcos and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez, of corruption.
Authorities earlier placed him under a blue notice request, enabling foreign law enforcement agencies to track his movements abroad.
Marcos also reported that the Anti-Money Laundering Council obtained two freeze orders covering about PHP12 billion in assets linked to the flood-control investigation.
The orders freeze aircraft, vehicles, real estate, bank accounts, insurance policies, and e-wallet accounts connected to Co and his alleged network.
The President said the asset freeze advances the administration’s commitment to recover public funds lost to corruption and to return “the people’s money to the people.”
Reymund Titong is a Filipino journalist steadily building his voice in the field of news reporting, driven by a commitment to tell meaningful and relevant stories.
He serves as a correspondent for Rappler, maintains a personal blog on Medium, and is the communications officer of Hope Builders Organization Negros Island.