MANILA, Philippines — Impeachment endorser and House Human Rights Committee Chairman Bienvenido “Benny” Abante Jr. on Saturday challenged four recanting “Maleta Boys” to name and provide evidence against those they claim were behind the preparation of their earlier affidavits.
“If the affidavit was fabricated, who fabricated? If scripted, who did the script? If there’s a mastermind, name them, prove it,” Abante said.
The four former bodyguards of ex-Ako Bicol party-list Rep. Zaldy Co — Rosebert Macasasa Waupan, Cecilio Serafica Larroder Jr., Benny Bulontate and Bernard Tube — recently withdrew sworn statements they had submitted to the Office of the Ombudsman.
They claimed they had been pressured, threatened or induced into signing prepared affidavits, and alleged that lawyer Levito Baligod directed their activities and coached them on public statements.
Abante said the recantations do not settle the issue, arguing that the four must explain who allegedly prepared and ordered their original affidavits and present evidence to support their new claims.
“The truth cannot depend on which affidavit happens to be the latest one,” he said.