Atty. Levito Baligod denounced notions from Senator Sherwin “Win” Gatchalian that the 18 supposed 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 explained that the claims were unwarranted as violence was not something they were aiming for.
The lawyer further questioned why a public official like Gatchalian would engage and promulgate such narratives given his status as a senator of the country.
“I don’t know why people of their stature, suppose to be, will engage in such accusation 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. Then the OSAA there have guns at their disposal, so how?” he added.
Baligod stressed that all they were after was for the allegations to be fully investigated, noting that they have been fully cooperative to the summons issued by various government agencies, including from the upper house.
“We are peaceful people, we do not know violence, we do not know dissidence, that’s why we cooperate even if we do not recognize Erwin Tulfo as the chair of the Blue Ribbon we still went there,” he mentioned.
On Monday, 8 June, Tulfo along with other senators from the Gatchalian bloc conducted a Senate Blue Ribbon meeting wherein the 18 supposed bagmen were called to present their testimonies.
After starting the hearing without the presence of the group, the lawmakers assumed that the former were not inclined to heed their call and proceeded with their session.
However, Baligod and the 18 did arrive at the upper house, heading directly to the office of Senator Robin Padilla where they would go on to hold a separate press conference.
The lawyer said that they had intended to attend Tulfo’s hearing but were being blocked from entering while he also supposedly heard murmurs that they were no longer required to participate.
Regardless of the developments, Baligod said that they were keen on ensuring that investigations be conducted on the testimonies of the bagmen, leading to their appearance before the Ombudsman.
Through the aforementioned Blue Ribbon hearing, a representative from the investigative body said that they had told the lawyer and his group to submit individual affidavits in order for the accusations to be properly probed.
Baligod affirmed that they were going to cooperate with the Ombudsman’s orders, as he believed that it was the proper forum where the 18 individuals could properly voice out what they know.
“We don’t want every single one of them to speak to the public, we want them to share what they know through the proper forum, and [the Ombudsman] is the proper forum,” he said.
According to the lawyer, only one out of the 18 marines were ordered to present themselves to the Ombudsman on Thursday, 11 June
