ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider 'Pahinga sa bahay?': Tiangco rejects House arrest plea from Zaldy Co's lawyer

'Pahinga sa bahay?': Tiangco rejects House arrest plea from Zaldy Co's lawyer

Published Nov 23, 2025 07:38 pm

At A Glance

  • Navotas City lone district representative and Zaldy Co's nemesis Toby Tiangco has flatly rejected calls from the latter's legal counsel to allow the former Ako Bicol Party-list congressman to post bail or undergo house arrest.
Navotas City lone district Rep. Toby Tiangco (left), Zaldy Co (MANILA BULLETIN, PPAB)
Navotas City lone district Rep. Toby Tiangco (left), Zaldy Co (MANILA BULLETIN, PPAB)


Navotas City lone district representative and Zaldy Co's nemesis Toby Tiangco has flatly rejected the appeal of the latter's legal counsel to allow the former Ako Bicol Party-list congressman to post bail or undergo house arrest.
“Hindi tayo papayag na house arrest o bail. No bail ang recommendation ng Ombudsman para sa malversation at graft charges (We will not allow house arrest or bail. The Ombudsman’s recommendation is no bail for malversation and graft charges)," Tiangco said in a statement Sunday, Nov. 23.
"Kapag simpleng barya ang kinuha ng isang tao, diretso kulong. Pero kapag bilyon-bilyon ang pinag-uusapan, biglang mag-rerequest ng bail o house arrest? No way (When a person takes just a few coins, they go straight to jail. But when billions are involved, suddenly there’s a request for bail or house arrest? No way)," he said to underscore his point.
Tiangco was reacting to a recent appeal made by Co's lawyer, Ruy Rondain for the sake of his client's safety. Co is in hiding abroad.
Co resigned as Ako Bicol Party-list representative in the current 20th Congress last Sept. 29. Months before this, he reporteldy left the country to seek medical treatment for a heart ailment.
It was around this time that his name was linked to budget insertions and later, the flood control projects corruption scandal. Tiangco has been the most vocal in terms of having Co personally answer the allegations, especially given the latter's past role as chairman of the powerful Committee on Appropriations.
Tiangco says the law is very clear in that malversation of public funds and graft are among the gravest crimes against the Filipino people.
"Hindi ito sakit ng ulo na basta puwedeng ‘magpahinga sa bahay.’ Kung ordinaryong mamamayan walang lusot, bakit sa kay Zaldy Co may special request? (This is not a headache that one can simply ‘rest at home’ from. If ordinary citizens have no escape, why should Zaldy Co have a special request?)" he asked.
Tiangco told Rondain that justice "cannot be twisted to favor the powerful".
"Kung may tiwala silang malinis ang kanilang kliyente, harapin niya ang kaso sa loob ng kulungan, hindi sa sala ng bahay. Wag nang dagdagan pa ang nag aalab na galit ng taumbayan," he said.
(If they truly believe their client is clean, then he should face the case inside prison, not in the living room of his house. Do not add further fuel to the burning anger of the people.)
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.