Remulla to block Zaldy’s asylum bid in France

“My job there is to convince our counterparts that after stealing $1 billion from a very poor country like the Philippines, he does not deserve asylum and he needs to be brought back to the Philippines,” Remulla said yesterday.

STAR / File

MANILA, Philippines — Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla will block former lawmaker Zaldy Co’s asylum bid in his upcoming visit to France.

“My job there is to convince our counterparts that after stealing $1 billion from a very poor country like the Philippines, he does not deserve asylum and he needs to be brought back to the Philippines,” Remulla said yesterday.

Remulla will meet with the International Criminal Police Organization in Lyon to follow through on the government’s request for an Interpol red notice alert.

He is expected to fly to France in the next 10 days.

Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla will also go to France, but the interior chief said they have different missions.

Co and former House speaker Martin Romualdez’s co-accused in a P7.4-billion plunder case, Joselyn Sereno and Felicito Guevarra, are still in the Philippines and remain at large, Remulla said.

Roque on asylum denial: Fake news

Former presidential spokesman Harry Roque denied yesterday that his application for asylum in Europe had been denied, as announced by Remulla.

“It is absolutely fake news. Asylum procedures worldwide are considered strictly confidential,” Roque told “Storycon” on One News.

Malacañang maintains that Roque’s request for asylum has no basis.

“This is not political persecution. Records, evidence speak for themselves,” Palace press officer Claire Castro said, citing human trafficking, land grabbing and tax evasion cases filed against Roque.

Remulla said the government needs to secure an Interpol red notice to arrest Roque.

Speaking from Vienna, Roque said his asylum application had been submitted for resolution and he has yet to receive a decision from Austrian authorities. — Helen Flores, Mark Ernest Villeza