Two videos circulating on TikTok and Facebook claim to show former Ako Bicol Party-list representative Elizaldy “Zaldy” Co being escorted by authorities after he was supposedly arrested. This is false.
The man in the clip is not Co. It is Montrexis Tamayo, engineer of Region IV-B of the Department of Public Works and Highways, being brought by security personnel to the Sandiganbayan on Nov. 6, a day after he was arrested.
On Dec. 1, a TikTok user uploaded a 1-minute and 58-second video of the alleged arrest with a superimposed text and a caption that read:
“Mainit na Balita. Ex-Cong. Zaldy Co. #news #corruption #arrest #fyp”
(Breaking News. Former Congressman Zaldy Co. #news #corruption #arrest #fyp)
Another user reposted the misleading clip on Facebook the following day, Dec. 2 with the caption:
“Totoo kaya ito Zaldy Co sumuko na”
(Is this true Zaldy Co already surrendered)
A reverse image search led to a video published by ABS-CBN on its YouTube channel and Facebook page on Nov. 26. The clip was taken when Tamayo, Planning and Design Engineer of DPWH Mimaropa, was accompanied by security personnel to the graft court for the return of the arrest warrant and commitment order against him being transferred to the Quezon City Jail.
Tamayo was among the 16 accused of graft and malversation before the Sandiganbayan for an alleged anomalous P289.5-million road dike project in Oriental Mindoro. He was apprehended on Nov. 25 at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal shortly after arriving from the United Arab Emirates.
Co, former chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, has been out of the country after he was implicated in a major corruption scandal involving flood control projects and budget insertions. The Independent Commission for Infrastructure ordered him to appear before the probe body looking into the flood control anomalies last Nov. 11 and 12, but he has defied the order and remains abroad.
The false video emerged after Co released a third video on Nov. 24 detailing an alleged kickback scheme involving President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez.
As of writing, the erroneous video posted by TikTok user Ako si Ali (created March 9, 2024), has garnered 367,400 views, 6,375 reactions, 1,077 comments, and 903 shares. A copy of the clip reuploaded by FB user Christian Portoguez earned 20,000 views, 298 reactions, 149 comments, and 38 shares.
