Senate President Vicente โTitoโ Sotto III says the upper chamber has issued 12 subpoenas ad testificandum for next weekโs Blue Ribbon Committee hearing on alleged flood-control anomaliesโheadlined by resigned ex-lawmaker Elizaldy โZaldyโ Co, who remains out of the country and the subject of an outstanding warrant of arrest. Sotto disclosed the subpoena count in a message to reporters, as the Senate prepares to resume the probe on Monday, January 19.
Coโs attendance is the obvious pressure point: he resigned in September and has been reported last in Portugal, according to Interior Secretary Jonvic Remullaโwith his Philippine passport canceled even as authorities have raised the possibility of a second passport. Whether he shows up or not, the subpoena is the Senateโs signal that โabroadโ isnโt a shield from a domestic investigationโespecially when the inquiry is about where public money went.
Sottoโs subpoena list is broad and tellingโspanning former Cabinet-level officials, auditors, engineers, contractors, and aides. Those named include former DPWH chief Manuel Bonoan, COA Commissioner Mario Lipana, former DepEd undersecretary Trygve Olaivar, businessman/contractor Maynard Ngu, former Co aides Orly Guteza and John Paul Estrada, ex-DPWH officials Gerald Pacanan (Mimaropa), Arjay Domasig (Bulacan district engineer), Gerald Opulencia (Metro Manila), former aide Carleen Yap-Villa (linked to ex-Sen. Nancy Binay), and โMark Teksay,โ in addition to Co.
Meanwhile, the Senate is also tightening its grip on testimony already in play: former DPWH Bulacan official Henry Alcantaraโwho has appeared in the hearingsโhas been ordered detained and remains in Senate custody, with Sotto saying the chamber will discuss next steps on Monday. Alcantara is also among individuals the DOJ has placed under the Witness Protection Program, a parallel track that underscores how this probe is increasingly being built around insider accounts and documentary trails.
Image from Rep. Zaldy Co FB