Malacañang said the Philippines can explore tapping the United Nations Anti-Corruption Convention (UNCAC) to locate and arrest former lawmaker and fugitive Zaldy Co, but it will depend on the country.

Palace Press Officer and Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro relayed a statement from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), saying that the country can indeed explore the UNCAC, a legally binding treaty that provides a framework for international cooperation against corruption.

However, the Philippines will also have to convene the Presidential UNCAC Inter-Agency Committee as it oversees and coordinates the country's implementation and monitoring of the UNCAC.

"According to Foreign Affairs Secretary Lazaro, 'yes, we can explore UNCAC as it has international cooperation mechanisms but it will have to depend on the country'," Castro said in a Palace briefing on Monday, Dec. 15.

"Countries are obliged to provide as applicable and in accord with domestic law possible, widest possible mutual legal assistance to each other," Lazaro said. "However, Presidential UNCAC Inter-Agency Committee with the ES (Executive Secretary) as chair should be convened as it implements and monitors UNCAC.”

Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson has earlier said that the government may explore tapping the UNCAC in locating Co, who is embroiled in corruption allegations over flood control anomalies.

The Philippines is a signatory of the UNCAC, which was adopted in 2003 and ratified by the Senate in 2006. A total of 192 countries signed the convention.

Lacson said "if we tap the resources of 191 other countries, you can imagine how our efforts to locate and arrest Co will be easier."

Co was suspected to be in Portugal. However, the Philippine Embassy in Portugal has yet to receive any report on his whereabouts. His passport was cancelled last Dec. 10.

Co was among the 16 people charged in connection with the anomalous flood control project in Oriental Mindoro.