Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano said Thursday he had not gone through the sworn statement submitted by 18 former Marines, after reporters pressed him on why the document surfaced names that went unmentioned during a Blue Ribbon Committee hearing run by his bloc.
“Ngayon ko lang nakita yung affidavit,” Cayetano said, telling reporters the paper had only reached him that day.
At issue was the absence of Sen. Loren Legarda and siblings Mark and Camille Villar from the committee’s discussion, even as the three appear in the affidavit itself. During the proceedings — held by the Cayetano group and chaired by Sen. Rodante Marcoleta, per the version of events given to the panel — questioning centered on Senators Vicente “Tito” Sotto III and Erwin Tulfo, while the other three lawmakers drew no attention.
The sworn statement, now under examination by the Blue Ribbon Committee, lays out specific claims. It states that two medium-sized suitcases were brought to Legarda in 2024 at a North Forbes Park residence in Makati City. A separate passage alleges that Mark Villar received seven medium-sized suitcases in 2022 at a Las Piñas City address, with former Ako Bicol party-list Rep. Zaldy Co said to be among those involved in that delivery. Neither account came up while the committee was in session.
Cayetano also waded into the question of whether the former Marines should be summoned again, an idea Tulfo had pushed. He turned the demand back on Tulfo.
“But that’s the problem with the Tulfos, sasabihin nila humarap ka, etc. Edi sana humarap siya kanina. Yung 18 [na ex-Marines], harapin niya sa susunod na hearing,” Cayetano said. “Mas maganda nga ‘yon pagka ganon kasi mate-test yung credibility.”
The 18 former Marines have been appearing as resource persons in the chamber’s wider look into irregularities tied to flood control spending.
