SANDIGANBAYAN ORDERS SEIZURE OF 16 PROPERTIES OWNED BY FORMER CONGRESSMAN ZALDY CO IN P289 MILLION FLOOD CONTROL GRAFT CASE

The anti-graft court is now moving against Zaldy Co's assets.

The Sandiganbayan Fifth Division has issued a writ of preliminary attachment against 16 real estate properties belonging to former Ako Bicol party-list Representative Elizaldy "Zaldy" Co and his wife, Mylene, in connection with the allegedly substandard P289 million flood control project in Naujan, Oriental Mindoro.

The order allows the court sheriff to attach enough of Co's property in the Philippines to satisfy a potential civil liability amounting to P215 million, should Co be convicted.

THE LEGAL BASIS

The court granted the government prosecutors' ex-parte motion, citing Rule 127 of the Rules of Court on Provisional Remedies in Criminal Cases.

The Sandiganbayan said the rule applies when a criminal action involves money or property "embezzled, fraudulently misapplied, or converted" by a public officer or any person in a fiduciary capacity.

"The present case squarely falls within the ambit of Section 2(b), Rule 127, as it is predicated on a claim involving public funds allegedly embezzled, fraudulently misapplied, or converted by the accused Department of Public Works and Highways officers in conspiracy with the accused Co," the court stated.

The Sandiganbayan further cited what it described as fraud "inherent in a violation of Section 3(e) of RA No. 3019, the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, when evident bad faith is alleged, as in the present case."

The prosecution confirmed in its Affidavit of Merit that there is no other sufficient security for the claim.

"Unless his properties are immediately attached, the State may be unable to satisfy any future judgment, as accused Co may easily alienate or conceal his remaining assets in the Philippines," the court said.

THE FLOOD CONTROL PROJECT

The case traces back to a P289.5 million road dike along the Mag-Asawang Tubig River in Naujan, Oriental Mindoro. The project was supposed to be a flood control measure. What government inspectors found when they examined it was something else.

On September 9, 2025, DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon and Oriental Mindoro Governor Bonz Dolor personally inspected the project site. According to the findings reported by the Philstar and confirmed by Dizon's own testimony at the Sandiganbayan, the steel sheet piles used in the dike were "significantly below the required standards."

The Commission on Audit's Region 4B auditor, Victoriano Acosta, testified during bail hearings that COA issued a notice of disallowance worth P84 million out of the P289 million budget after determining the project was "constructed not in accordance with plans and specifications," according to GMA News.

CO AS A FUGITIVE

Co left the Philippines on August 6, 2025, approximately three months before the Office of the Ombudsman filed the first criminal charges against him at the Sandiganbayan on November 18, 2025.

The Sandiganbayan has declared Co a fugitive from justice. On March 5, the court denied his motion for reconsideration of that status, calling it both filed beyond the reglementary period and lacking in merit, according to a GMA News report.

Co is one of 16 individuals facing charges. The others include officials from the DPWH-Mimaropa regional office and board members of Sun Corporation, a construction firm owned by Co.

The charges filed by Assistant Ombudsman Aserico Clavano include malversation of public funds through falsification of documents under the Revised Penal Code and violation of Section 3(e) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act. For Co specifically, the Ombudsman also filed charges under Section 3(b) of the same law, concerning claims of receiving undue financial or material advantages.

THE WIDER FLOOD CONTROL RECKONING

This case is one piece of a much larger wave. The flood control corruption scandals that erupted in 2025 brought hundreds of thousands of Filipinos into the streets, triggered the resignation of former House Speaker Martin Romualdez, and led to a nationwide audit of flood control contracts.

Co's case was the first flood control-related criminal case filed at the Sandiganbayan, according to the Ombudsman. Other cases remain under preliminary investigation.

DPWH Secretary Dizon has stated publicly that the evidence against Co is "robust" and "unequivocal." During an impromptu interview at the Sandiganbayan in January, Dizon said: "The evidence will clearly demonstrate that the project was subpar, that former Rep. Zaldy Co and officials from the DPWH colluded to execute a deficient project to misappropriate funds meant for our citizens."

Co's counsel, lawyer Ruy Rondain, has not yet publicly responded to the writ of preliminary attachment, according to GMA News.