The decision of the 18 bodyguards of former Ako Bicol party-list Rep. Elizaldy Co to skip the Senate blue ribbon committee hearing on Monday places a dent on their allegations, Bicol Saro party-list Rep. Terry Ridon said.
Ridon, in a statement, said that the bodyguards, if they were speaking the truth, would have no problem showing up to different fora to explain the allegations they made against several House of Representatives lawmakers.
‘The decision of the ’18 Maleta Boys’-the group of former bodyguards who launched a sensationalized smear campaign last week-to skip today’s Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing speaks for itself,’ Ridon said.
‘If their allegations were true, they should have had no difficulty appearing before an official congressional proceeding, testifying under oath, and subjecting themselves to questioning by senators. Instead, they chose not to appear,’ he added.
The 18 bodyguards, initially described as former officers of the Philippine Marine Corps, appeared before the blue ribbon committee hearing last Thursday, which was led by former Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano’s group.
But acting Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian’s bloc maintained that this hearing had no bearing since the new Majority declared all positions vacant a day prior, and installed new officials to several committees.
Earlier, the committee under Senator Erwin Tulfo, a member of Gatchalian’s bloc, held another hearing.
However, the 18 bodyguards did not show up and chose to stay inside the office of Sen. Robinhood Padilla.
According to Ridon, he challenged the individuals to appear before the committee last Saturday – a simple challenge, which he said should depend on the advice of a single senator.
However, despite this challenge supposedly being simple, Ridon said the 18 bodyguards still refused to attend.
‘Their decision should not depend on the advice, instruction, or preference of any one senator. It should depend on what their supposed whistleblower story was all about: truth-telling, accountability, and a willingness to stand by serious allegations under oath,’ he said. ‘The contrast could not be clearer.’
‘They were willing to make sensational allegations in an informal forum, but were unwilling to repeat those same allegations under oath before the duly constituted Senate Blue Ribbon Committee. Their refusal to do so seriously undermines the credibility of the claims they previously made,’ he added.
With the refusal from the 18 bodyguards to attend, Ridon said that the House prosecution panel is still focused on its duty regarding Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial.
‘The House prosecution panel remains focused on its constitutional duties and on the forthcoming impeachment trial. No distraction, no fabricated allegation, and no manufactured sideshow will deter us from presenting the evidence and the truth before the Senate impeachment court,’ he noted.
Discussions about the claims of the 18 bodyguards surfaced again as Cayetano’s group pushed through with the blue ribbon committee hearing last Thursday.
During the hearing, the 18 former officers testified and reiterated several of their allegations, which were contained in an affidavit released last February 25, 2026.
The former officers claimed that they used to work for Co, who was head of the House of Representatives’ committee on appropriations during the 19th Congress. According to the 18 individuals, they were tasked by Co to deliver suitcases allegedly filled with cash to different individuals, including several House members.
However, observers were quick to point out alleged inconsistencies and changes from the 18 individuals’ testimony last Thursday, and their original affidavit last February. Manila Rep. Joel Chua said that the venue in which the 18 bodyguards supposedly handed the money to him had changed.
Palawan Rep. Jose Alvarez, meanwhile, questioned his sudden inclusion in the list of those who received suitcases.
Alvarez rushed to the Senate on Thursday to confront the 18 individuals, saying that he did not receive any suitcase with cash. When asked what might have been the reason why he was suddenly included in the list, Alvarez said it might be because of his refusal to endorse an impeachment complaint against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
According to Alvarez, a certain Margarette who claimed to represent former lawmaker Mike Defensor – a supporter of the 18 Marines – texted him and sent a copy of the complaint against Marcos.
When asked if he will endorse the complaint, Alvarez said he flatly denied the request.
Other lawmakers have denied the allegations, too: according to Deputy Speaker Janette Garin, some sectors have been using the Senate as a political theater weeks before the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.
Aside from Garin, Deputy Speaker Paolo Ortega V also noted that the blue ribbon committee hearing was merely staged to discredit the House before Duterte’s impeachment trial even starts.
During the hearing earlier, both the Office of the Ombudsman and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said they have no problem checking on claims made by the 18 bodyguards, but both agencies stressed the need for individual affidavits, as not every action was done collectively.
Ombudsman Central Records Division officer-in-charge Karen Batu said that lawyer-evaluators from the Office of the Ombudsman required the 18 bodyguards’ legal counsel, lawyer Levito Baligod, to submit individual affidavits stating their personal knowledge of the incidents alleged.
As of now, Batu said that the 18 bodyguards’ camp has not yet sent these documents.
NBI Director Melvin Matibag said that while they were able to interview the 18 bodyguards, only five signed the testimony as Baligod stopped the 13, because he wanted to review the documents.
Matibag said that Baligod later wanted to rip the documents.
Prosecutor-General Richard Anthony Fadullon on the other hand said it would not be a problem if the entire group has personal knowledge of everything that was alleged in the document, or if there would be clarifications that for a certain portion, only select individuals knew what transpired.