THE National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has arrested one of the co-accused of former Ako Bicol party list representative Zaldy Co in the anomalous P289-million road dike project in Oriental Mindoro.
The NBI-Technical Information Division arrested Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH)-Mimaropa engineer Dennis Abagon in a house in Quezon City on Sunday, November 23, 2025.
Abagon has a standing arrest warrant issued by the Sandiganbayan over charges of malversation through falsification and two counts of graft charges over the irregularities in the implementation of a P289-million road dike project in Oriental Mindoro that was awarded to construction firm Sunwest Corporation.
Sunwest Corporation, which was co-founded by Co, is among the top 15 construction firms that bagged 20 percent or P100 billion worth of flood control projects in the country from 2022 to 2025.
Aside from Co and Abagon, the arrest warrant also covers 15 DPWH-Mimaropa officials and the board of directors of Sunwest Corporation.
Meanwhile, the Philippine National Police (PNP) has activated tracker teams to arrest Co and his co-accused upon the instruction of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).
In a statement, DILG Secretary Jonvic Remulla assured that due process will be observed and all individuals covered by the warrants will be treated fairly.
“The department’s position is firm. Enforcement will not depend on personalities or politics. Anyone who is the subject of a lawful warrant will be apprehended. The law applies equally to all and the DILG will carry out what needs to be done,” he said.
“Public funds must be protected. Integrity in government must be upheld. The DILG will enforce the law and ensure that accountability proceeds as it should, for the safety and welfare of our people,” he added.
On Friday, November 21, Remulla said Co was tracked in Japan.
Co flew to the United States in July for a medical treatment. He refused to come back home amid the government investigations on flood control anomalies, claiming the imminent threats against his and his family’s lives.
Co was pointed by several witnesses as among the beneficiaries of multi-billion worth of kickbacks from flood control anomalies.
He denied the allegations, passing on the blame to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez. (TPM/SunStar Philippines)
