Megastar Sharon Cuneta has publicly defended her family after her husband, Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan, issued a statement vowing to take legal action over allegations linking the couple to the multibillion-peso flood control corruption scandal.
In a Facebook post titled “Statement on Suitcases,” Pangilinan dismissed the accusations as “puro pasaring, puro alegasyon, puro palabas” (all insinuations, all allegations, all show), saying they were meant to stain his reported appointment as chairperson of the Senate Blue Ribbon Subcommittee tasked to investigate the scam. He said that because his accusers had dragged in his family, they would face “something that is neither an insinuation, an allegation, nor a spectacle — in court.”
Cuneta responded in a separate post, denouncing what she called lies and addressing claims tied to a family visit to Marawi City. She wrote that she had vlogged about the trip on her YouTube channel, and that it took place after the elections, when the family returned to thank the governor, mayor, and other local officials for their support.
Cuneta’s reference traces back to a July 2025 visit, when she travelled to Marawi with her daughters and expressed gratitude to Lanao del Sur Governor Mamintal “Bombit” Adiong Jr. and his wife, Mayor Nancy Adiong, along with Marawi City officials, for backing Pangilinan during his Senate campaign.
The controversy stems from testimony given during a June 4 Senate hearing led by the bloc of Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, where 18 men identifying themselves as former Marines claimed to have delivered suitcases, paper bags, and envelopes of cash to various politicians and personalities allegedly tied to anomalous flood control projects. According to GMA News, the group named figures including President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Senators Vicente “Tito” Sotto III and Erwin Tulfo, and former lawmakers Leila de Lima and France Castro. MindaNews reported that the 18 were identified as bodyguards of former congressman Zaldy Co, who fled abroad after the scandal erupted.
The allegations have prompted a wave of denials and legal threats from those implicated. Lanao del Sur First District Representative Ziaur-Rahman “Zia” Alonto Adiong filed libel and cyber libel complaints against the 18 men at the Marawi City Prosecutor’s Office, dismissing the claims as baseless.
Pangilinan, a member of the bloc led by acting Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian, has previously called the rival Cayetano bloc’s June 4 proceeding “illegal” and “void,” arguing the Blue Ribbon Committee was not yet formally constituted. The leadership dispute remains unresolved as the Senate continues its inquiry into the flood control anomalies.
