Zaldy Co is toast

Virtual Reality

- TONY LOPEZ

B icol Congressman Elizaldy Co is toast. He will be convicted and jailed, perhaps for a long time. His name will be generic for “corrupt government official of the worst kind.” “IZaldy Co mo na ‘yan” means steal the taxpayers’ money and run.

Co knows his crime. He is a recidivist. He is now on the run, moving from one country to another, hiding from prying eyes and alert Filipinos, while wearing disguises and surrounded by hordes of bodyguards. It will take a long time before Co returns to the Philippines, if ever -unless the Interpol gets into the game.

“Zaldy Co will be jailed,” Department of Public Works and Highways Secretary Vince Dizon told his audience during the MOPC Infra Night, Sept. 30 in Makati. “The chances of conviction are higher than 80 percent,” he assured me.

The evidence against the Ako Bicol party-list congressman is compelling, an “open and shut case,” Vince quotes the lawyer of DPWH which is seeking Co’s prosecution. Co’s companies had bagged P86.1 billion worth of DPWH contracts from 2016 to 2025, the second biggest in the country after the Discayas’ P207 billion, the No. 1 in number and amount of DPWH contracts. Most of the projects done by Co and the Discayas for DPWH are either ghost or substandard. That makes them the two biggest thieves of taxpayers’ money — P86 billion and P207 billion, respectively.

The Independent Commission for Infrastructure’s case No. 1 before the ombudsman is a case against Co, Vince Dizon’s first serious attempt to demand accountability from greedy contractors.