appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

isVideo

articlePageQuery

article

articleSchemaContent

content

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

hooksArticlePageFloatingButtonConfigArticle

appConfig

filter

json

liveArticle

SCMP’s Asia desk

A Philippine cabinet minister has claimed that fugitive former lawmaker Zaldy Co intends to build a five-storey basement within a luxury home to store money, as more revelations of the widening flood-control corruption scandal surface.
Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla made the claim at a press conference on Tuesday, saying government checks of applications to a private village association and building permits suggested the Forbes Park property in Makati – one of Metro Manila’s most exclusive neighbourhoods – was being built with a basement far deeper than one built for residential parking.
“Yes, our initial investigation showed that the house being constructed by Zaldy Co has a five-storey basement,” Remulla told reporters as quoted by The Philippine Daily Inquirer.
Remulla argued that while basements in high-end homes were often designed for vehicles, a multilevel basement could also serve as secure storage. He said: “We always assume that it is for parking, but it is to our knowledge that it was going to be used for storage of money.”
He added that investigators had also determined the rationale for such a building design. “Because fire goes upwards so they put the money below in the lowest point of the house so that it won’t be harmed if there is a fire.”
Co’s camp swiftly rejected Remulla’s comments, with his lawyer Ruy Rondain issuing a statement calling the “cash basement” claim a “fabrication”. Rondain also challenged Remulla to disclose his source, saying “neither the existing building nor the construction plans support his claim”.
The home design involved a “split-type basement, strictly for vehicles”, and the layout was in line with local rules that limit a property’s buildable area relative to its total lot size, according to Rondain.

The clash comes as Philippine authorities intensify efforts to locate and arrest Co, a former congressman and businessman tied to Sunwest Construction and Development Corporation, after anti-corruption prosecutors accused him and others of defrauding the state through “ghost” and substandard flood-control projects.
In one of the most prominent cases so far, the Office of the Ombudsman filed corruption complaints at an anti-corruption court in November over alleged anomalies in a 289 million peso (US$4.9 million) flood-control project in Oriental Mindoro province, naming Co, public works officials and company executives as accused individuals.
Assistant Ombudsman Mico Clavano said the filing was being pursued “firmly, independently and without fear or favour”, adding that prosecutors were building more cases.
The court, known as the Sandiganbayan, has issued arrest warrants in the case. It later declared Co a “fugitive from justice” after prosecutors argued he had not complied with court orders and subpoenas, according to Philippine media reports.
The whereabouts of Co, who left the Philippines in July, remain unknown. President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr announced on December 10 that the government had cancelled Co’s Philippine passport and instructed the foreign ministry and police to work with embassies to expedite his return.
Authorities have raised the possibility that Co could be travelling on a foreign passport, which would complicate efforts to bring him back to the Philippines through normal immigration channels.

Remulla has told local media that Co is believed to be hiding in Portugal and may have obtained the relevant Portuguese documentation years earlier, prompting the interior department to liaise with its Portuguese counterpart on the matter.
Manila has also said it is open to using international cooperation mechanisms under the United Nations Convention Against Corruption to locate Co.
Remulla has tied the hunt for Co to a push to seize assets that authorities allege were derived from corruption, saying government lawyers were exploring civil asset forfeiture – a legal mechanism that allows the state to seize property suspected of being linked to unlawful gains even without a criminal conviction.
In an interview published Friday on the Department of the Interior’s website, Remulla said the state was examining assets it believed were connected to Co and his associates, naming “two houses in Forbes Park” as well as interests linked to a hotel and a resort. He also warned suspects under investigation that “there will be civil forfeiture of all their assets”.
The flood-control controversy has become a politically explosive issue because it touches on a vital government function in a country that has been repeatedly struck by powerful typhoons and other extreme weather events.
This year alone, the Philippines has endured dozens of tropical cyclones, including Ragasa in September and Kalmaegi and Fung-wong in November, which brought widespread flooding and forced mass evacuations.


Public anger over the corruption scandal has led to large protest rallies in Manila and other cities, drawing tens of thousands of Filipinos demanding accountability.
The government’s independent commission is reportedly reviewing thousands of flood-control projects worth hundreds of billions of pesos, amid official estimates that enormous sums may have been lost to corruption since 2023.
Marcos has sought to frame the crackdown as a test of state authority, warning that suspects would be arrested and “nobody would be spared”.


Hong Kong secures expanded equal treatment and investment guarantees across Asean

Second chance to earn college degree offered to Hong Kong’s Filipino domestic helpers

Escape Manila’s heat for northern Luzon’s pine-scented hills, hanging coffins and other hidden wonders

Saudi oil pipeline closure puts Asia’s economic resilience to the test

The Philippines

Philippine ex-lawmaker accused of building 5-level basement to store money

Anti-corruption prosecutors in the Philippines have accused Zaldy Co, a former congressman, and others of defrauding the state through “ghost” and substandard flood-control projects. Photo: Captured off YouTube

Cars piled up at a muddy street seen in Bacayan, Cebu City, Philippines, last month following floods brought on by Typhoon Kalmaegi. Photo: Reuters

Protesters attempt to march towards the Malacanang presidential palace during an anti-corruption rally in Manila last month. Photo: AP

Philippines weighs using UN anti-corruption treaty for Zaldy Co’s extradition

Fugitive Philippine lawmaker Zaldy Co (left) and President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr. Photo: Handout, AFP

Protesters march towards the Malacanang presidential palace during an anti-corruption rally in Manila on November 30. Photo: AP

Senator Panfilo Lacson attends a press conference in Makati City in April 2022. Photo: AFP

Workers from the Department of Public Works and Highways clear clogged drainage canals as part of flood control measures in San Juan City, Metro Manila, on December 3. Photo: EPA

Why the Philippines can’t escape its endless cycle of disaster

Satellite imagery shows Super Typhoon Fung-wong as it approaches the Philippines on November 9. Photo: NOAA/EPA

Satellite imagery taken by the US’ National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows Super Typhoon Fung-wong approaching the Philippines on November 9. Photo: NOAA/NESDIS/AFP

People shelter under makeshift tents amid the remains of homes swept away by floods brought on by Typhoon Kalmaegi in Cebu, the Philippines, on November 6. Photo: Reuters

A woman walks along a mud-covered street in Liloan, Cebu Province, in the aftermath of Typhoon Kalmaegi on November 6. Photo: AFP

Widespread flooding is seen in Cagayan province, northern Philippines, on November 11, after Typhoon Fung-wong. Photo: Cagayan Police Provincial Office/AP

Rescuers search for missing people in Japan’s Ishikawa prefecture after a major 7.5 magnitude earthquake struck the region in January 2024. Photo: Jiji Press/AFP

A man in Tacloban walks among the debris of destroyed houses in the aftermath of Super Typhoon Haiyan in November 2013. Photo: AFP

A handout satellite image made available by the National Oceanic and Atmosphere Adminstration shows Typhoon Haiyan striking the Philippines on November 8, 2013. Photo: NOAA/EPA

Workers from the Philippine Department of Public Works and Highways open a clogged drainage canal in San Juan City, Metro Manila, to collect trash as part of flood control measures on Wednesday. Photo: EPA

Is Philippines being unfairly targeted in Australia’s Bondi Beach shooting?

People visit a floral tribute outside the Bondi Pavilion on Friday following Sunday’s shooting. Photo: AP

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese visits the scene of Sunday’s attack on Monday. Photo: Reuters

Police and military coordinate at the site of a militant attack in the town of Jolo in southern Philippines, on August 24, 2020. Photo: AP

Members of the Philippines’ military and rebel mediators discuss a ceasefire at southern Basilan province on November 10, 2022. Photo: Public Information Office, Western Mindanao Command/AP

Why the Philippine Army is turning to locally built remote weapons systems

Soldiers from the Armour Division operate the Cobra system during a demonstration in Camp O’Donnell, Capas, Tarlac on Thursday. Photo: Philippine Army

Soldiers fire the Cobra from inside an armoured vehicle during a demonstration on Thursday. Photo: Philippine Army

Philippines’ Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jnr (left) talks to US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth during the Asean Defence Ministers’ Meeting on November 1. Photo: AFP

This Week in Asia

Politics

News

Asia

Southeast Asia

Zaldy Co, who is on the run, has been accused of being involved in the flood-control corruption scandal


Zaldy Co, who is on the run, has been accused of being involved in the flood-control corruption scandal.


Philippine ex-lawmaker accused of building 5-level basement to store money

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Zaldy Co, who is on the run, has been accused of being involved in the flood-control corruption scandal

Zaldy Co, who is on the run, has been accused of being involved in the flood-control corruption scandal