Sen. Ping Lacson Speaks on Senate Flood Control Investigation Following Zaldy Co’s Rumored Detention in Prague
PING LACSON – The Senate Blue Ribbon Committee Chairman plans to invite both former Speaker Martin Romualdez and former Congressman Zaldy Co to the flood control hearing.
Amid the ongoing call for accountability over the supposed multi-billion flood control scam, President Bongbong Marcos previously announce that Zaldy Co’s under the custody of the Czech authorities in Prague. The former Congressman is one of the supposed main role player in the supposed corruption.
Zaldy Co’s name was mentioned in several testimonies in the flood control investigation. Both the Senate and then House of Representatives launched their own probes on the supposed multi-billion flood control corruption.
Both the Senate and the House had a change of leaderships amid the flood control mess after both then-House Speaker Martin Romualdez and then-Senate Pres. Chiz Escudero were implicated in the corruption issues. The flood control scam triggered the Trillion Peso March.
Thousands of Filipinos joined the protest against corruption which was held twice in 2025. Amid the issue, Pres. Bongbong Marcos ordered the creation of the Independent Commission for Infrastructure or ICI.
The ICI had operated for a little over 125 days. It winded down its flood control investigation in March. In its 125-day report to Marcos Jr., the independent commission cited the following achievements:
- Nine referrals, covering 65 implicated individuals, submitted to the Ombudsman, one of which was made with the Department of Public Works and Highways
- 66 individuals referred to the Department of Justice for the issuance of Immigration Lookout Bulletin Orders (ILBOs)
- 32 hearings covering 36 witnesses, including 20 legislators and five agency heads
- 16 site inspections nationwide
- 1,173 documents processed
- 6,692 bank accounts of implicated individuals frozen or subjected to freeze orders
- P24.7 billion worth of assets seized, preserved, frozen or surrendered, according to the Anti-Money Laundering Council. This includes 229 vehicles, 394 insurance policies, 161 real properties, 16 e-wallet accounts and 10 air assets
- Eight inter-agency coordination meetings conducted and six legislative sessions attended
- Three hearings livestreamed
The Senate Blue Ribbon Committee continued its flood control investigation despite the creation of the ICI. The committed has prepared a flood control report and Senate President Pro Tempore Ping Lacson hoped that more senators would sign the report.
The said flood control report mentioned senators Chiz Escudero, Joel Villanueva, and Jinggoy Estrada. Recently, following the reported detention of Zaldy Co in Prague, Senate Blue Ribbon Committee Chairman Ping Lacson revealed his plan of inviting both Zaldy Co and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez to the flood control probe.
Based on the post, the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee is preparing the flood control report. Recently, amid the speculations on the reported detention of the former Congressman in Prague, the Department of Justice or DOJ said that Zaldy Co is “not technically arrested” in the Czech Republic.
