LEAKIPEDIA | The legal & diplomatic misstep in Zaldy Co’s ‘arrest’

The law moves slower than headlines. That’s why diplomacy (or at least the professional kind) prefers backchannels to bravado.

When Malacañang triumphantly declared that former congressman and alleged flood-control scammer Zaldy Co “caught” in Czechia, who informed the President about the arrest?

And why did another Cabinet official make bold announcements of “vigorous” negotiations, “quick” extradition, and “70-80% chance” of return?

This early expectations-raising narrative seemed reckless. Career diplomats know that the basics in this case were never in Manila’s favor: We have no extradition treaty with Czechia and the path via repatriation was narrow.

And as a THEPHILBIZNEWS source noted: A very real risk also exists that a competent lawyer could stall everything with an asylum claim in the EU.

So once Co slipped out of Czechia and reportedly surfaced in France seeking asylum, the Philippine government’s tone snapped back to reality.

This time, the first person to inform the President enters the picture again. This time, correcting earlier impressions (and appearing like from a bumbling government), official statements no longer had sweeping assurances: passport cancelled, Interpol notified, and embassy verifying.

The uncomfortable reminder that should have been front and center from Co’s reported arrest: Diplomacy, including EU asylum rules and NOT Philippine politics, set the pace.

Truly, the foreign service corps does not “get” fugitives. It tracks, coordinates, and negotiates — within laws it does not control.

For the first Presidential bearer of diplomacy news, the lesson should cut deep: You cannot declare a success (Co’s arrest in this case) before diplomacy has even begun.