Photo credit: Benny Abante

The 18 former bodyguards of businessman and former congressman Zaldy Co may have been left to face the consequences of their allegations alone after a highly anticipated Senate proceeding failed to push through, according to House Committee on Human Rights Chairperson and Manila 6th District Rep. Bienvenido Abante Jr.

Abante made the statement on Thursday following the collapse of what had been widely promoted as a Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing involving claims made by the former bodyguards against several lawmakers and public figures.

Instead of a formal hearing, the event on June 16 ended up as a press conference, after key senators expected to participate reportedly did not attend.

“After all the buildup, all the publicity, and all the dramatic accusations, the people left holding the bag were the witnesses themselves and their handler,” Abante said. “Ang masakit puro mga kaso ang kinakaharap ngayon ng ex-bodyguards.”

The former bodyguards had accused several House members and other personalities of receiving luggage bags allegedly containing cash from Co. Those accused have strongly denied the allegations.

Abante said the witnesses were initially presented as insiders with information that could expose alleged wrongdoing, but questioned why those who helped amplify the accusations were absent when the claims were supposed to be examined more closely.

“They were presented as credible insiders with explosive stories to tell. But when the moment came for those claims to be tested in what was being advertised as a Senate proceeding, the politicians who helped elevate their allegations were nowhere to be found,” he said.

The Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, now headed by Sen. Erwin Tulfo, had earlier clarified that no hearing on the matter had been authorized or officially scheduled.

Abante, who was among those named in the allegations, has already filed a cyber libel complaint against the witnesses before the Manila Prosecutor’s Office.

He noted that former congressman Mike Defensor had publicly promoted the supposed hearing and appeared at the venue together with the witnesses and members of the media.

“The witnesses showed up. Mike Defensor showed up. The media showed up. What did not show up were the senators whose participation was supposed to give the event legitimacy,” Abante said.

“That is why the entire exercise ended not with answers, but with even more questions,” he added.

According to Abante, the failure of the planned hearing has raised doubts not only about the allegations but also about the people who pushed for them.

“These were serious accusations involving bags allegedly filled with cash and claims of wrongdoing by public officials. Serious allegations deserve serious scrutiny,” he said.

“If the evidence was truly overwhelming, why did the proceeding collapse before it even began?”

Abante also said the public deserves an explanation from those who had heavily promoted the event.

“You cannot spend days promising a blockbuster Senate hearing and then deliver a press conference after the hearing itself falls apart,” he said.

“In the end, the hearing disappeared, the senators disappeared, and the credibility of the entire operation disappeared with them,” Abante added.