Acting Senate President Win Gatchalian remained headstrong that the scheduled hearing on Monday, headed by the new Blue Ribbon Committe Chairperson Erwin Tulfo, is the official flood control probe, dismissing that of the Cayetano-led faction as a mere “gathering” not entered into official Senate records.
Gatchalian’s insistence stemmed from their 12-member bloc’s conviction that the leadership change on Wednesday was valid and lawful, despite Senate President Alan Cayetano’s camp’s arguing that it fell short of one vote of the minimum majority threshold of 13 to constitute a quorum and make it legal.
“What happened yesterday (Thursday) was not a hearing, but a gathering…Whatever they said there, it's not official. If they want to repeat it, they can repeat it on Monday to make it official,” Gatchalian said in Filipino in a radio interview.
He was referring to the group of individuals who identified themselves as “ex-Marines” and allegedly worked as security and “bagmen” of former lawmaker now fugitive Elizaldy Co, chair of the House appropriations committee in the 19th Congress.
The so-called “18 ex-Marines” hurled damning allegations against top government officials, including President Marcos Jr., Senators Tito Sotto and Erwin Tulfo, former House speaker Martin Romualdez, and Ilocos Rep. Sandro Marcos, among others.
They initially detailed the allegation in a joint affidavit in February, claiming that they delivered luggage containing kickbacks from flood control to the respective residences of the senior officials.
The “Marines” repeated the accusation in a supposed BRC hearing pushed through by the Cayetano-led faction on Thursday, despite the absence of the Senate secretariat and stenographers to document the proceedings following an advisory from Gatchalian’s office authorizing a work-from-home arrangement and shortened working hours on that day.
The opposing camps of Gatchalian and Cayetano are still locked in a power struggle, although the former’s faction insists that it is they who have control of the chamber and that the hearing convened by Cayetano and allies was illegitimate because it is Tulfo who is the new chairman of the BRC.
The “Marines” are invited anew to testify on Monday’s flood control investigation, though former House lawmaker Mike Defensor—who assists the “ex-soldiers” even financially—said their decision whether to attend the probe would be solely based on Cayetano’s go-signal.
However, Gatchalian countered that the “Marines” should not be selective and face what he called the official hearing if they are sincere about their explosive claims on corruption in the administration.
Tulfo to sue ‘Marines’
Tulfo vehemently denied the “unfounded” accusations that he received money from flood control kickbacks and warned that he would press charges against the “Marines.”
“We will definitely file a libel case. They should answer for that because...it has become so easy these days…to just point fingers,” Tulfo said in Filipino in a separate radio interview.
Senator Ping Lacson of the Gatchalian bloc agreed with Tulfo, warning that all the participants of Thursday’s hearing, including senators, may face charges with no guarantee of parliamentary immunity.
“They can be charged, possibly for cyber libel and other crimes since it was a bogus hearing and no parliamentary immunity may be invoked, not even the senators who participated,” he said.
In addition to this, they could also face charges of usurpation of authority or official functions, according to Lacson, emphasizing that a person who knowingly performs official acts without lawful authority is punishable by prision correccional under Article 177 of the Revised Penal Code.
Unless the Supreme Court overturns the 1949 landmark case of Avelino v Cuenco and voids the leadership reorganization in the Senate.
Gatchalian, Tulfo, and allies in the new majority bloc derided the Cayetano-led faction’s flood control hearing as “bogus,” designed to undermine and discredit the investigation on Monday amid the ongoing leadership dispute.
Cayetano’s bloc, on the other hand, accused Gatchalian’s camp of illegally pushing the leadership revamp to derail the flood control investigation to shield their allies, who were allegedly involved in the kickback scheme.
The “Marines” flatly denied that they received P5 million each in bribe money from Defensor, as alleged by NBI Director Melvin, in exchange for testifying in the flood control probe.
Critics and implicated lawmakers flagged what they deemed glaring inconsistencies in the affidavit of the “Marines,” such as photos of the supposed deliveries and the timeline of the events.
They also raise concerns about their credibility after four of them were disowned by the Philippine Navy and the Armed Forces of the Philippines, while the majority of the remainder were allegedly dishonorably discharged.