The camp of 18 alleged former Philippine Marines and several other respondents facing cyberlibel, perjury, and unlawful publication complaints has requested additional time to submit counter-affidavits before the Department of Justice (DoJ), according to their lawyer, Levito Baligod.

Baligod confirmed that he and his clients attended the preliminary investigation conducted by the DoJ involving complaints filed by Leila de Lima, Fr. Flavie Villanueva, and other government officials.

The cases stem from allegations made by the former Marines, who claimed that De Lima, Villanueva, and other officials were involved in alleged payoffs connected to International Criminal Court (ICC) proceedings involving former President Rodrigo Duterte. The officials have strongly denied the accusations.

During the proceedings, Baligod argued that there is “no basis” for the complaints filed against his clients, particularly questioning the legal grounding of the cyberlibel and perjury charges.

“I read twice all the complaints, and for the perjury case, there were witnesses who claimed they saw de Lima and Father Flavie receiving money. We still have additional witnesses who did not sign sworn statements but will attest to the same,” Baligod said.

He also maintained that the charges lack specificity regarding online publication. 

“I did not see any sentence, paragraph, or even word indicating that these respondents were the ones who uploaded the allegedly libelous materials on the internet,” he added.

Baligod further argued that the complaint for unlawful publication under Article 183 does not apply, saying there was no showing that public order was endangered by the materials allegedly released.