Romualdez: Baligod urged 25 Co aides to join ‘18 bodyguards’

MANILA, Philippines — Some of the 25 former security aides of ex-Ako Bicol party-list Rep. Elizaldy Co who maintained that they did not deliver cash in suitcases were initially asked by lawyer Levito Baligod to join the cause of the “18 bodyguards,” Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez said.

Romualdez, in the supplemental counter affidavit he submitted to the Office of the Ombudsman on Thursday — copies of which were obtained by INQUIRER on Friday — cited the affidavits of denial and non-participation filed by the 25 security aides, wherein they stated that Baligod urged them to join the 18 bodyguards, initially called the “18 Marines,” in exchange for financial benefits.

Baligod is the lawyer of the 18 bodyguards, who were presented to the public in February 2026.

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READ: Former Zaldy Co aide links Martin Romualdez to flood control mess 

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“In the Affidavits of Denial and Non-Participation, all the 25 security aides state that throughout their respective periods of employment until 2025 and 2026, no deliveries of money were ever made, contrary to the false allegations made by the 18 Security Aides against me,” Romualdez, former House of Representatives speaker, said in his supplemental counter-affidavit.

“Equally important, some of the 25 security aides likewise state under oath that Atty. Levito Baligod, the counsel of the 18 security aides, and certain members of the 18 security aides, had encouraged them to join a group called ’18 Kargadors,’ ‘Brave 18,’ ‘18 ex-Marines,’ or ‘18 Marines’ in exchange for financial benefit, notwithstanding their want of personal knowledge of the matters alleged,” he added.

Romualdez also noted that one of the 25 former security aides, a certain Arnilo Ramirez, said that Baligod was planning to create a second batch of witnesses after the 18 bodyguards, bringing him and others to a hotel between March and April 2026, to sign an “already prepared affidavit.”

“Ramirez even mentioned that Atty. Baligod brought him, and others referred to as ‘Batch 2,’ to a Shangri-La Hotel sometime in March or April of 2026, for the signing of an already prepared affidavit which contained statements which he did not personally see, know, nor experience, and thus declined to sign the same,” Romualdez said.

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“The Affidavits of Denial and Non-Participation clearly render the allegations of the 18 security aides even more incredible and further corroborate the arguments raised in, and the Recantation Affidavits appended to, my Counter-Affidavit,” he added.

Also, Romualdez said that some of the 25 security aides were among the individuals mentioned by the 18 bodyguards who were with them when they made the deliveries. However, several of the 25 security aides denied this.

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“In particular, two conflicting sets of claims again emerge.  On the one hand, Christopher T. Esquivel, Gil N. Navidad Jr., and Rodante P. Orbillo claim, in their respective affidavits, that specific individuals participated in or accompanied them during the supposed deliveries of maletas. On the other hand, the very individuals named by Esquivel, Navidad, and Orbillo, have, under pain of perjury, categorically denied any such participation or involvement,” he said.

“For instance, Esquivel identified Paga as the driver who supposedly accompanied him during the 21 November 2023 delivery to No. 42 McKinley Road, 15 but Paga has denied any such participation.  Similarly, Navidad identified Ramirez as a fellow driver during the delivery to No. 14 Narra, 1 but Ramirez has likewise stated, under oath, that he has no knowledge of and was never part of any such delivery,” he added.

On Thursday, Romualdez’s lawyer and spokesperson Ade Fajardo held a press briefing in Quezon City, to announce that they will be filing the supplemental counter-affidavit before the Office of the Ombudsman.

READ: Romualdez to file supplemental counter affidavit with Ombudsman

During the briefing, Fajardo said that the varying statements of witnesses cited in complaints against Romualdez, along with the supposed lack of forensic or documentary evidence linking him to anomalous infrastructure projects, should prompt the dismissal of the complaints against him.

Fajardo said that despite the length of the Office of the Ombudsman’s probe on the flood control issue, the complaint against the former Speaker seemed to be reliant on oral evidence — which he said can easily be disputed.

READ: Lawyer: Varying claims, lacking docs should junk raps vs Romualdez 

Fajardo was referring to the recantation of Orly Guteza and several former Co bodyguards who withdrew their statements against Romualdez. For Guteza, he claimed that it was the idea of Sen. Rodante Marcoleta and former Anakalusugan party-list Rep. Mike Defensor to fabricate a story.

In an affidavit dated August 13 obtained by INQUIRER on Wednesday, Guteza admitted that he had no personal knowledge of the alleged delivery of “maleta” (suitcases) containing cash at Co’s Pasig residence, as well as the alleged delivery to Romualdez’s residence in Taguig.

READ: Guteza recants: Marcoleta, Defensor tapped me to accuse Romualdez 

Guteza made his allegation against Romualdez during the Senate blue ribbon committee investigation of anomalous infrastructure and flood control projects in September 2025, wherein he claimed he delivered cash in luggage to Co and Romualdez’s homes — amounting to more or less P48 million each.

According to Guteza, during each “garbage duty,” certain individuals are expected to deliver suitcases containing money, which John Paul Estrada and Mark Tecsay, both of whom were Co’s executive assistants, would receive.

Early this August, four of the 18 former Co bodyguards claimed in a report aired by GMA’s 24 Oras that they signed the joint affidavit because they had allegedly been promised financial assistance.

They were referring to the affidavit that they signed and presented along with Baligod during a Feb. 24, 2026 press briefing. The 18 bodyguards made the same claims as Guteza, saying they were involved in delivering cash from Co to different lawmakers.

READ: More solons question timing of cash suitcases issue 

Romualdez is facing a complaint from the Office of the Ombudsman, which claimed that the former speaker was involved in “concerted and coordinated acts” that led to “unlawfully amassing, accumulating, and acquiring ill-gotten wealth” amounting to approximately P56 billion from 2022 to 2025.

However, Romualdez and his lawyers maintained his innocence, calling out the Office of the Ombudsman for using witnesses that they had discredited before just to build up cases against him.

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Romualdez also disputed the Ombudsman’s claim that he had functional control of the budget, since no single person has discretion over every step of the appropriations process. /das