The Sandiganbayan’s sixth division will start on March 3 and 5 the trial of the non-bailable malversation of public funds filed against former congressman Zaldy Co and other co-accused in the P289 million “anomalous” flood control project in Naujan, Oriental Mindoro.

Thereafter, the trial will proceed weekly every Tuesday and Thursday starting at 8:30 a.m., the court said.

The trial schedule was issued after the court terminated its hearings on the petition for bail filed by the accused.

In the bail petition, Ombudsman prosecutors were directed to submit their formal offer of evidence to which the bail petitioners should submit their comment or opposition.

“Upon resolution by the court of the said Formal Offer, the parties are hereby given a period of three days from receipt of a copy thereof within which to file their respective memorandum, if so minded,” the order stated.

The order also stated that “upon the expiration of the said three-day period granted by the court, with or without the said memorandum, the Petition for Bail shall be deemed submitted for resolution.”

Co is still at large. He has been abroad since July 2025. In Sweden, he signed a petition filed before the Supreme Court (SC) challenging his indictment for graft and malversation of public funds and pleaded for a temporary restraining order (TRO) to stop the proceedings before the anti-graft court.

The SC, however, has not issued a TRO and, instead, required Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla and the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) to answer Co’s petition in 10 days.

Co’s co-accused in the malversation case were Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Region IV-B Director Gerald A. Pacanan, Assistant Regional Director Gene Ryan A. Altea, Assistant Regional Director Ruben D. Santos, Jr., Construction Division Chief Dominic G. Serrano, Project Engineer III Felisardo S. Casuno, Accountant IV Lerma D. Cayco, Maintenance Division Head Juliet Calvo, officer-in-charge Chief of Quality Assurance and Hydrology Division Dennis Pelo Abagon, and Planning and Design Division officer-in-charge Montrexis Tamayo. They have pleaded “not guilty” when arraigned.

The female accused are currently detained at Camp Karingal in Quezon City while the male accused are at the Payatas new jail facility, also in Quezon City. They filed the petition to post bail.

Co and his co-accused are also facing a violation of Section 3(e) of Republic Act No. 3019, the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, before the Sandiganbayan’s fifth division. Co also has a separate graft case before the court’s seventh division.

Oriental Mindoro Gov. Humerlito "Bonz" Dolor and Commission on Audit (COA) Region IV-B Technical Auditor Raymundo Manalo were two of the prosecution’s witnesses during the hearings of the bail petition.

They both testified that the sheet piles used for the project were indeed "substandard,” and that these measured three meters even though the contract specifications said that it should be 12 meters.