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MANILA, Philippines — Lawyer Levi Baligod said two of his clients among the 18 former soldiers had wrongly implicated Sen. Loren Legarda in their affidavit, the second known instance in which he acknowledged a mistake in the group’s allegations.
The admission came shortly after Sen. Raffy Tulfo questioned the credibility of the "dishonorably discharged" soldiers, saying they were being hailed as "heroes" despite allegedly acting as couriers in the flood control fund mess.
At a press conference held Monday, June 8, at the office of Sen. Robin Padilla, Baligod said former congressman Mike Defensor—the handler of the 18 accusers—asked him to relay to Legarda that the two former soldiers were admitting their error.
"Ibinigay ko po sa kanya yung sinabi nung dalawang sundalo. Sabi ko inaamin nila pagkakamali nila," Baligod said. (I gave him what the two soldiers said. I told him they are admitting their mistake.)
"Kung gusto ni Senator Loren na kasuhan yung dalawa, ibinibigay ko ang ebidensya. Pwede niyang kasuhan ng perjury yung dalawa kung gusto niya," he added. (If Senator Loren wants to file charges against the two, I am giving her the evidence. She can charge the two with perjury if she wants.)
Baligod said the correction has not yet been submitted to the Office of the Ombudsman.
Legarda allegation
Legarda was named in the affidavit filed by the former soldiers before the Ombudsman. The affidavit alleged that she received medium-sized luggage supposedly containing money.
But during a June 4 Senate meeting tagged as a "Blue Ribbon" hearing despite not having the presence of the chamber's stenographers, Legarda described the former soldiers as "heroes."
Tulfo pushed back on that characterization during the June 8 Blue Ribbon hearing of the majority bloc, saying the accusers should not be elevated without scrutiny.
"I would like to remind my colleagues here in the Senate to please be very careful in calling out some people as bayani, putting them on a pedestal," Tulfo said.
He said the former soldiers should instead be called "kargador," or porters, because they had admitted delivering suitcases supposedly containing millions of pesos to lawmakers and private individuals.
"Yung bansag na 18 Marines ay isang paraan upang pabanguhin sila sa publiko," Tulfo said. "Matik po kasi 'yan pag sinabing Marines, aba iba po ang respeto ng mga tao." (The 18 Marines tag is a way to make them look good in public. That is automatic because when you say Marines, people accord them a certain respect.)
Credibility questions
The reversal on Legarda marks another of group’s flip-flopping claims, which have become the subject of complaints, particularly an oral defamation case filed Monday by Tulfo's brother, Sen. Erwin Tulfo.
Raffy Tulfo also questioned how the former soldiers presented their claims during the June 4 meeting, saying they had difficulty telling their story on their own.
"The presiding officers of that conference were coaching and leading their 'resource persons,'" Tulfo said.
On Monday afternoon, the 18 former soldiers and Baligod went to the Department of Justice for the continuation of the preliminary investigation into the complaints filed against them.
They did not appear before the Blue Ribbon Committee hearing led by Sen. Erwin Tulfo, despite also being invited.
This was not the first time Baligod acknowledged an error in the former soldiers’ affidavit.
In a media interview in February 2026, Baligod said the group had mistakenly included former Sen. Leila de Lima, now a member of the House of Representatives, in their affidavit.
De Lima and several others later filed cyberlibel and perjury complaints against Baligod and the former soldiers before the DOJ.
In 2013, Legarda, who was already a senator, were and then-senator Bongbong Marcos were initially linked to the pork barrel fund scam when their names were placed on an affidavit of a whistleblower. The Office of the Ombudsman, however, did not find enough evidence to press charges. The Department of Justice also denied that Legarda was named in the investigation.
