Eight luxury vehicles allegedly owned by former Ako Bicol Party-list Representative Zaldy Co, who has been linked to the alleged misuse of flood control funds, were seized by joint law enforcement teams during a raid at a condominium in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig, on Thursday, Jan. 8, according to the Philippine National Police (PNP).
Police Colonel John Guiagui, chief of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group–National Capital Region (CIDG-NCR), said a total of 15 vehicles linked to Co were being tracked in connection with the ongoing investigation on flood control anomalies but only nine were covered by their search warrants.
Out of the nine covered by search warrants, only eight were found at the parking area of the condominium building during the operation. Although the police did not disclose the total amount of seized cars, among them were high-end units such as Rolls-Royce, Toyota Sequoia, Cadillac Escalade, and Lexus.
The vehicles were taken to the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) facility in Taguig City for temporary custody as the Bureau of Customs (BOC) had no available storage space.
Further, at least five other vehicles found at the site but not covered by the search warrants were also taken into custody by the PNP Highway Patrol Group (HPG) due to alarm hits and initial violations.
“We found 13 vehicles here in total during our operation. The others that are not covered by the search warrants will be taken by the HPG,” Guiagui said.
On the other hand, two other vehicles were allegedly taken out of the condominium’s parking lot by unidentified individuals before the police arrived.
“We don’t know [who took them]. Last night (Jan. 7), the Taguig City Police Station, which was mandated and ordered to secure the vehicles so none would be removed, reported that there were attempts to take some vehicles out. Luckily, our police were there,” Guiagui said.
“But two [vehicles] were taken out before we arrived,” he said.
Guiagui said the vehicles were registered under different names and some were listed under corporate entities, including Sunwest Incorporated, a construction firm connected by investigators to Co.
Other vehicles were registered under Co’s spouse and several hotel firms, the police official added.
Aside from the CIDG, the operation involved several law enforcement agencies such as the HPG, BOC, and the Land Transportation Office (LTO).
The search warrants were intended to locate the subject vehicles and check for possible evidence inside them. However, Guiagui said no documents or other items were recovered.
“We did not find any documents or belongings inside the vehicles except the vehicles themselves,” he said.
Guiagui said the CIDG will also apply for a warrant to disclose information related to ownership of the parking slots. (Martin Sadongdong)
