Investigators should ‘piece together’ whatever information could be established, even if only five to 10 percent of the former bodyguards’ claims ultimately prove useful.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines clarifies that the so-called ‘Maleta Boys’ in the Senate controversy are not acting as Marines, stressing they were no longer in active service and acted in a private capacity, to avoid implying institutional AFP or Philippine Marine Corps involvement.
Not an outright dismissal or rejection, but a suspension of judgment should be accorded the revelations of the so-called “maleta boys,” or the former bodyguards of fugitive former partylist representative Zaldy Co, in order to unearth the truth in the Floodgate scandal.
Amid the deluge of lawsuits filed against the supposed whistleblowers, Senate Deputy Majority Leader JV Ejercito, in a television interview, said their affidavits should be reviewed, particularly those that could help uncover the truth behind the trillion-peso corruption scandal.
“I remember telling National Bureau of Investigation director Melvin Matibag — because he was saying that all of the 18 were not credible — that they were entitled to the benefit of the doubt,” Ejercito said.
He added, “What if some of them who executed the affidavit, which I think eight of them did, can have their information corroborated so this can pinpoint some of the main players in the scandal.”
The former bodyguards’ statements should not be dismissed simply because of inconsistencies in their joint affidavit or questions surrounding how it was prepared, Ejercito said.
Instead, he suggested that investigators examine their individual accounts and determine whether even a portion of the information could be verified.
He particularly urged the NBI to locate individuals identified as Co’s alleged executive assistants, saying their testimony could potentially corroborate the accounts of the former bodyguards and other witnesses.
Ejercito said investigators should “piece together” whatever information could be established, even if only five to 10 percent of the former bodyguards’ claims ultimately prove useful.
He also suggested that an executive session could allow investigators to privately interview other individuals who may be reluctant to come forward because they fear for their careers.
The senator stressed that the objective should not be to discredit the 18 former bodyguards but to determine whether their statements contain information that could help identify those responsible for the corruption scheme.
Now ‘Brave 14’
Of the original 18 ex-bodyguards, four had recanted their testimony, leaving 14, the group lawyer Levito Baligod now refers to as the “Brave 14” or “B14.”
Each of them faces at least four counts of perjury, with bail set at P72,000 per person.
On Friday, only three of the 14 managed to post bail in time to avoid arrest. The other 10 failed to come up with the substantial amount and were detained at the Las Piñas City Police Station.
On Saturday, the 10 posted bail and were released.
The 10 detained witnesses were released around 1:10 p.m. yesterday. They paid a total of P720,000. Each faces four counts of perjury, with the recommended bail set at P18,000 per count.
Because the court’s Office of the Clerk of Court (OCC) does not accept cash, Baligod had to transfer P740,000 into an online payment portal, with an additional amount for processing transactions and court fees.
Baligod said the over P1 million total budget earmarked for the group’s cumulative legal bond, which includes separate cyberlibel complaints, was raised using his personal resources and contributions from overseas Filipino workers and donors who believe in the cause of the 14.
Baligod arrived at the court at around 9:30 a.m. Saturday, saying his legal team had completed the online payment needed for the bail after banks closed Friday and they were unavailable to make a deposit.
“We just finished loading cash online because the banks are closed today. The OCC is not allowed to receive cash,” he said.
One accused was in Cotabato to attend the wake of a loved one and was expected to post bail there.
Baligod also questioned why only three of the 13 accused who appeared at the Las Piñas RTC on Friday were able to complete the bail process.
He said his team had prepared the necessary documents for the courts in Caloocan, Muntinlupa, San Juan and Las Piñas cities.
Baligod said his staff had been at the Las Piñas RTC as early as 8:30 a.m. Friday because court operations were expected to be suspended, prompting them to arrive early.
The 10 spent the night at the Las Piñas Police Station after no RTC night court was available to complete their bail processing.
Recantation shows unreliability
Matibag, meanwhile, said he was not surprised by the four maleta boys’ decision to withdraw their allegations because the bureau had found their statements to be unreliable after investigations.
“I wasn’t surprised because, as I said, all of that is already in the findings we submitted to the Blue Ribbon Committee, the Ombudsman, and the DoJ,” he said.
Also, Matibag said the recantation could further damage the witnesses’ credibility and may even affect how their former colleagues view them.
“If they really want to show their credibility, the problem is who will now believe them and who will applaud them. I’m sure their colleagues are angry with them. That is assuming, of course, that those with their faces covered were indeed among the 18 Marines,” he added.
Matibag said the four former Marines may have changed their stories because the promises allegedly made to them were never fulfilled.
Also, Matibag said the recantation was consistent with the NBI’s earlier findings that questioned the credibility of the witnesses.
“This is what we are saying — you cannot hide the truth, and this validated the NBI’s findings. What did the NBI say in its findings, if you recall? We said that these people were unreliable witnesses,” Matibag said.
“We don’t know if they are truthful. But I have to caution everybody: their faces were covered;
we did not see them. So, were those really them?” he said.
The NBI chief pointed out that when the 18 first surfaced, they publicly revealed their identities.
“When they came out in the open saying there was “maleta,” they were very brave and wearing T-shirts, their faces could be seen. It should be like that,” Matibag said.
Matibag suggested that the recantation may have stemmed from their disappointment after alleged commitments made to them failed to materialize.
