Senator Raffy Tulfo has cast serious doubts on the credibility of the 18 former bodyguards who testified in last week’s Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing regarding flood control anomalies.
The investigation is being led by the camp of embattled Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano.
During the resumption of the committee hearing on Monday, Tulfo pointed out that several of the former soldiers had been dishonorably discharged from military service, making it difficult to view them as legitimate Marines or to fully trust their accusations against former Ako Bicol Party-list Representative Zaldy Co.
Tulfo argued that labeling the group as the “18 Marines” was highly misleading.
“Simulang-simula pa lang na tinawag silang 18 marines, may paglilinlang na agad. Yung bansag na 18 Marines ay isang paraan upang pabanguhin sila sa publiko. Matik po kasi yan pag sinabing Marines iba po ang respeto ng mga tao,” Tulfo pointed out.
He noted that more than half of the individuals were dishonorably discharged for various offenses, including being absent without official leave (AWOL).
“Why is this information very important? Because for people to believe their allegations, it must come from a credible and reliable source. And so, the people using them portrayed them as heroes,” he said.
“Sabi nga ng isa sa mga senador na dumalo noong araw na yun bayani sila. Pero nakakahiya naman po sa iba nating mga bayani,” he continued.
Instead of referring to them as soldiers, Tulfo dubbed the group as “kargador” (porters), based on their own testimonies that they carried suitcases allegedly filled with cash for government officials, including President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez.
“Let me call them 18 kargador kasi nga po nagkakarga-karga sila ng male-maletang pera. Yun naman umano ang trabaho nila tagabitbit taga karga ng mga maleta,” he added.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) backed these findings on Saturday, clarifying that the 18 individuals were no longer in active service when the alleged incidents occurred.
AFP Public Affairs Office chief Col. Xerxes Trinidad and the Philippine Navy both confirmed that it was inaccurate to call all 18 individuals former Marines, revealing that four were never part of the Marine Corps, while the majority of the rest had been dishonorably discharged.