Lawyer Levito Baligod on Thursday rejected the claim of Senator Sherwin “Win” Gatchalian that the 18 alleged bagmen of former congressman Zaldy Co posed a threat to the Senate.

Appearing before the Office of the Ombudsman alongside Johnny Buduan, one of Co’s alleged aides, Baligod said the allegation was unfounded, stressing that neither he nor his group had any intention of resorting to violence.

“I don’t know why people of their stature, supposed to be, will engage in such accusations that we are threatening the security of the Senate,” he said.

“When you enter the Senate, you will be frisked. You can’t even enter with a knife. The OSAA personnel there have guns at their disposal, so how?” he added.

Baligod said the group’s objective was simply to have their allegations of corruption fully investigated, noting that they had cooperated with the summonses issued by various government agencies, including the Senate.

“We are peaceful people. We do not know violence. We do not know dissidence. That’s why we cooperated. Even if we do not recognize Erwin Tulfo as the chair of the Blue Ribbon Committee, we still went there,” he said.

Not needed

On 9 June, Tulfo and other senators aligned with the Gatchalian bloc conducted a Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing where the 18 alleged ex-military men were invited to present their testimonies.

After beginning the hearing without the group present, the senators proceeded with the session, believing they would not appear.

However, Baligod and the 18 individuals later arrived at the Senate and went to the office of Senator Robin Padilla, where they held a press conference.

Baligod said they had intended to attend the hearing but were prevented from entering the session hall. He said he also heard their participation was no longer required.

Proper forum

During the Blue Ribbon meeting, a representative of the Ombudsman said Baligod and the group would be required to submit individual affidavits to facilitate a proper investigation of the allegations.

Baligod said they would comply with the directive, adding that the Ombudsman was the proper forum for the 18 individuals to present their testimonies.

“We don’t want every single one of them speaking to the public. We want them to share what they know in the proper forum, and the Ombudsman is the proper forum,” he said.

According to Baligod, only one of the 18 supposed former Marines was ordered to appear before the Ombudsman on Thursday, 11 June. -30-