A lawyer accused of orchestrating a scheme to extract money from prominent figures now stands at the center of sworn recantations filed by four men who say they were manipulated into making false accusations.
The four — Rosebert Macasasa Waupan, Cecilio Serafica Larroder Jr., Benny Bulontate and Bernard Tube — told the Office of the Ombudsman in newly executed affidavits that pressure, threats, and inducements led them to sign documents they now describe as untrue. All four had earlier submitted statements to the same office implicating politicians and other individuals in supposed cash deliveries and graft.
Central to their reversals is attorney Levi Baligod, whom the men accuse of running the group and dictating its members’ public statements and appearances. Former Rep. Mike Defensor and Sen. Rodante Marcoleta were also named as figures who allegedly promised the men legal or political cover.
Waupan, describing himself as a onetime security aide to former lawmaker Zaldy Co, said an Ombudsman lawyer he could not identify warned him he would be jailed unless he signed a statement claiming he had carried money in suitcases for Co. He denied ever doing so. According to Waupan, the group first intended to leverage narratives about garbage contracts and the “18 Marines” to squeeze payments from political figures before the effort shifted, in his telling, into something “purely political,” with members told to appear at the Senate and before the press.
In his affidavit, Waupan said Baligod controlled the group’s messaging: “Si Atty. Baligod ang nagsasalita para sa amin, hangga’t maaari. Siya rin ang nagdedesisyon sa mga lakad at paglabas namin.” He added that Baligod dangled a large reward if the plan worked and assured members that Defensor and Marcoleta would shield them.
Larroder gave a parallel account, saying he had been drawn into what he called a blackmail scheme aimed at rich and powerful personalities. Members, he said, were coached on their wardrobe, their words, and how to present prepared affidavits to journalists. “Si Atty. Baligod ang namahala sa mga bagay na ito,” he stated. He further claimed Defensor told the group that Marcoleta’s backing signaled the Iglesia ni Cristo stood behind them. The promised money never came, Larroder said, and the operation eventually got tangled in political feuds — prompting his decision to file the new statement and pull back his earlier one.
Bulontate traced his July 3 affidavit to fear. He said he was taken alone into an office at the Ombudsman, handed a ready-made statement, and told cooperation would serve him and his family better. He resisted signing without a lawyer present, he said, until he was warned he could face charges ranging from plunder and bribery to extortion, libel, perjury and falsification. He denied handling any money or garbage, saying his role was confined to close-in security for Co’s family. Baligod, Defensor and Marcoleta, he said, functioned as the group’s handlers before the supposed revelations turned political.
Tube said the affidavit he was made to sign was meant to be used against former Speaker Martin Romualdez and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. He retracted his July 3 statement as false, adding that he had been convinced Baligod, Defensor and Marcoleta could end up imprisoned, which would strip the group of its protection. He, too, characterized the “18 Marines” as a blackmail effort built on the fear of public humiliation.
A fifth man, Jeron Gaveria Balderama, took a different path. Rather than recanting, he swore he had never belonged to the “18 Marines” and knew nothing firsthand of the accusations in the group’s joint affidavit. Balderama said he had worked security for International Criminal Court representatives during 2024 and 2025 visits and never witnessed any money, suitcases or paper bags changing hands.
Balderama also placed himself in the room when Tube and Larroder talked over their decision to withdraw their earlier statements, saying he believed the two acted of their own accord after speaking with counsel.
None of the fresh allegations has been independently verified. The affidavits carry no response from Baligod, Defensor, Marcoleta or the Ombudsman.
