THE coming out of 18 former military security aides of disgraced former Ako Bicol Partylist Representative and House Appropriations Committee chair, Elizaldy ‘Zaldy’ Co, is putting pressure on the government, in particular, the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, for the conduct of a public hearing to validate their allegations.
The pressure on the Senate leadership of President Vicente Sotto III and Senate Pro Tempore and SBRC chair, Panfilo Lacson, is getting tighter after nearly 200 retired officers and members from the military service and the Philippine National Police (PNP) affixed their signatures to a manifesto of support that circulated in social media since the group came out thru a press conference at the Club Filipino last February 23.
The manifesto drafted by retired Philippine Air Force general, Romeo Poquiz, has so far been signed by retired officers and enlisted personnel from the various branches of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), the PNP and the Philippine Coastguard. Among the signatories are more than 20 retired generals.
Lacson, who cultivated the image of being against corruption since rising to national prominence as an officer and subsequent head of the PNP during the short-lived administration of President Joseph Estrada, has rejected to summon the group and instead started to cast doubt and aspersion on their credibility.
Prior to the group’s surfacing, Lacson’s SBRC had issued a report clearing President Marcos Jr. and his cousin, former House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, as among the “principals” behind the multi-trillion pesos flood control project scam that has been allegedly happening since the start of the Marcos administration.
Zaldy’s Co’s accomplices
An exasperated Mike Defensor, a former congressman, expressed frustration by noting that while Lacson fingered Co as the “mastermind” in the systematic theft of the national budget in the last 3 years, Lacson would not dare investigate the revelations of his former security aides.
“Sabi nila si Zaldy Co and ‘mastermind’ pero itong mga ‘kasabwat’ niya, mga dating tauhan niya, ayaw nilang imbestigahan, bakit,” Defensor asked in a media interview.
In the main, the group corroborated the video confessions that Co made last year where revealed that suitcases full of money were delivered not only to Romualdez but directly to the President himself.
Marines MSgt. Orly Guteza, a previous security aide of Co and a voluntary witness during the early stage of the SBRC probe, had confirmed Co’s confession.
Guteza, however, was immediately discredited by Lacson and Sotto over his alleged “fake
notary” in his affidavit.
Presently, Guteza’s status and whereabouts remain unknown.
During their press conference, the group also confirmed both the confession of Co and the statement of Guteza.
They revealed that they were the ones who delivered the money to Romualdez, Marcos and other select officials of the government and members of Congress and the Senate and even the media. Among those with whom money was delivered in suitcases was Sotto, they claimed.
Their lawyer, Levito Baligod, estimated that upwards to more than ₱800 billion from the national budget have been siphoned off to the pockets and private accounts of corrupt Filipino officials since 2022.
The group had signed their joint affidavit that has been already notarized. They expressed readiness to swore on their statements again before lawmakers should Lacson decides finally to conduct a public hearing.