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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider 18 'ex-Marines' return to NBI for probe on identities, allegations

18 'ex-Marines' return to NBI for probe on identities, allegations

Published Mar 17, 2026 02:36 pm
The 18 “ex-Marines” returned to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on Tuesday, March 17, for the continuation of the probe on their allegations and their identities.
They had earlier claimed that they were the “bagmen” of resigned congressman Elizaldy Co and they delivered millions of pesos to several government officials as “kickbacks” in the flood control projects.
The Office of the Ombudsman had asked the NBI to conduct a probe, particularly on the identities of the so-called “bagmen.”
Lawyer Levito Baligod, the legal counsel of the “former” soldiers, said he accompanied them after they received the subpoena from the NBI.
“Ang hinihingi sa amin ng NBI ‘yung contract of employment, mga screenshots ng mga chats nila, ‘yung mga original na mga pictures and so many others (The NBI was asking them to submit certificates of employment, screenshots of chats and original photos),” said Baligod.
He said the 18 “former soldiers -- 16 former Marines and two Army --will only be able to submit photo copies of their respective identification cards which showed that they were previously employed by Co.
“Ang problema namin wala na dito si Zaldy Co para mag-isyu ng certification na empleyado sila. So ‘yung second evidence namin is ‘yung identification cards. Pero, noong tinerminate sila, pinasurrender ang kanilang mga identification cards (Our problem is Zaldy Co is no longer in the Philippines to certify that he employed them. So, our second evidence is their identification cards. However, when they were terminated, they were asked to surrender their identification cards),” he explained.
The Ombudsman had also required the 18 “bagmen” to submit separate sworn statements.
“So, mag-cocomply po kami doon (So we will comply with that),” assured Baligod.
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