Acting further on an earlier promise to bring former Ako-Bicol party-list Representative Elizaldy Co back to the Philippines to face the music, Malacañang said that it may tap the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) to aid in tracking down and arresting Co.
This follows the recent cancellation of his passport and the National Bureau of Investigation’s (NBI) disclosure of a red notice request submitted by the agency to the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) in November.
At a press briefing Monday, Presidential Communications Office (PCO) Undersecretary and Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said that the government is carefully studying this move to bring UNCAC into the fold as the manhunt for the resigned lawmaker presses forward.
Castro said, reiterating the statement of Foreign Affairs Secretary Ma. Theresa Lazaro on the matter, “Yes, we can explore UNCAC as it has international cooperation mechanisms, but it will have to depend on the country. Countries are obliged to provide, as applicable and in accord with domestic law, [the] widest possible mutual legal assistance to each other.”
She mentioned, however, that the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) still have not engaged in talks with the UNCAC as of press time.
The Palace mouthpiece concluded her remarks by reaffirming President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s pledge on ensuring that personalities involved in ‘ghost’ and anomalous flood control projects will be imprisoned before Christmas.
“Katulad po ng pangako ng Pangulo, mayroong maiisyuhan ng warrant of arrest, mayroong hindi magiging maganda ang Pasko dahil sa mga nasangkot sa maanomalyang flood control projects. So, abangan na lang po natin dahil ito naman din po ay sa ating pagkakaalam ay talagang tinatrabaho din po at pinagtutuunan ng pansin ng DOJ, pati na po ang Ombudsman.”
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