President Marcos is eyeing to formally apply for an extradition treaty with Portugal in a bid to arrest fugitive Zaldy Co who is believed to be in the foreign country.

Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Jonvic Remulla disclosed on Tuesday, Jan. 13, that Marcos is considering applying for an extradition treaty in order to arrest Co over his alleged involvement in the flood control anomalies.

"[N]agbigay ng instruction ang President, formally mag-a-apply na kami ng extradition treaty sa kanila kahit wala pang formal extradition treaty between the two countries (The President has given instructions that we formally apply for an extradition, even though there is no formal extradition treaty between the two countries)," Remulla said in a Palace briefing.

The DILG chief also bared that they have already requested the repatriation of Co through the Interpol.

"Pero through the Interpol magre-request na kami ng repatriation ni Zaldy Co kung nasa Portugal talaga siya (Through Interpol, we will request the repatriation of Zaldy Co, if he is indeed in Portugal)," Remulla said.

In a separate interview, Remulla clarified that applying for a formal treaty with Portugal "is part of the conversation" and that "he is already considering" it.

He also clarified that "it is not a direct order but it is also part of the conversation that it is being considered." Remulla said the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) is the agency responsible in applying for the extradition treaty.

"The President instructed to study the possibility of applying for extradition for Zaldy Co with Portugal. Pinag-aaralan pa namin kasi ang magulo dito ay wala tayong (We are still looking into it because what's complicated here is we have no) extradition treaty but there are other avenues that we can pursue na gusto nyang pag-aralan (that he wants us to study)," Remulla said.

Other avenues, according to Remulla, include the Interpol and the United Nations.

"Treaty will take too long, e. Treaty will take years and years to do so other avenues—instruct niya samin pag-aralan namin na gagawa extradition niya not passing through a treaty (his instruction is for us to look into other ways that will not pass through a treaty)," he said.

In early December last year, Co's Philippine passport was cancelled, a move that aimed at preventing him from further hiding over allegations of corruption in connection to the flood control anomalies.

He was, however, suspected to have been carrying a Portuguese passport.

"We suspect na nasa Portugal siya. Ang information namin ay meron siyang Portuguese passport out of an immigration clause na binigay nila. Ang information namin itong wy 10 years old pero ive-verify pa namin (We suspect that he is in Portugal. Our information is that he has a Portuguese passport obtained through an immigration clause granted to him. This information is already about 10 years old, but we will still verify it)," Remulla said.

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

The government has since urged overseas Filipinos to take a photo of him in case they see him and report it to Filipino authorities.