Rep. Leila de Lima and Fr. Flavie Villanueva have filed libel and perjury complaints against 18 former 'Marines' and their lawyer Levi Baligod with the National Bureau of Investigation. The complaints arise from claims that De Lima received suitcases of cash from a fugitive ex-lawmaker. The lawyer has admitted to mistakenly including De Lima's name but continued linking her to the allegations.
On Monday, March 9, Rep. Leila de Lima of the Mamamayang Liberal party-list and Ramon Magsaysay Awardee Fr. Flavie Villanueva filed libel complaints against 18 former 'Marines' and their lawyer Levi Baligod with the National Bureau of Investigation. They also submitted perjury complaints against the ex-soldiers.
The allegations stem from an affidavit by the group claiming De Lima was among lawmakers who received suitcases of cash from fugitive ex-lawmaker Zaldy Co. For Villanueva, the soldiers alleged he was selected by former Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV to communicate with International Criminal Court (ICC) officials, which they described as unlawful.
Baligod admitted on February 26 that De Lima's inclusion in the affidavit was a mistake. However, De Lima stated that Baligod continued to assert she received a paper bag of money, issuing the correction only in media interviews not under oath.
Regarding the perjury complaint, De Lima noted that the testimonies of the 18 former 'Marines' included false statements made under oath. When asked about possible origins of the claims, De Lima echoed Trillanes' earlier remarks, attributing them to the Duterte camp.
"To create confusion, they thought many would bite, they thought many would believe, they thought it would cause some instability for us. This is what we see — this is the handiwork of the Duterte camp," De Lima said in a mix of Filipino and English.
She added: "Pwede ho ba tigilan nyo na ako ginawa nyo na yan dati yung paninira sa akin na nag-cause ng aking pagkakulong ng almost seven years, unjustly detained for trumped-up, politically motivated, fabricated illegal drug trading charges, and now you're doing this again para palabasin ako ay corrupt na tumatanggap ng ganyan, so puwede po ba sobra na, stop it."
This marks the third case linked to the affidavit. On March 4, National Security Adviser Eduardo Año filed complaints for unlawful publication and utterances against ex-lawmaker Mike Defensor, Baligod, and the former soldiers. On March 5, former Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV filed cyberlibel complaints against Baligod and Defensor.
