National Security Adviser Eduardo Año pledged to launch a legal offensive against those behind allegations that he received a large sum of money following a meeting with former lawmaker Zaldy Co and ex-House Speaker Martin Romualdez.
The allegations, raised by 18 former members of the Philippine Marines, claim that P805 billion was delivered to various government officials, including President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Romualdez.
Año dismissed the accusations and vowed accountability through legal means.
The allegations appeared to have supported the claims of former Marine Orly Guteza who went into hiding after implicating Romualdez in a Senate hearing.
“I categorically reject and denounce the malicious, unsigned affidavit purportedly from eighteen ex-Marines accusing me of receiving a paper bag after a meeting at the Polo Club townhouse,” said Año in a statement.
He said he never attended any meeting with former Romualdez, Co and Rep. Leila De Lima in the Polo Club townhouse or in any other location.
“These claims are entirely false and fabricated,” he stressed.
The military earlier said that four of the 18 people who raised the allegation were never part of the Marine Corps while most of them are dishonorably discharged from the service.
Netizens also pointed out inconsistencies in the claims of the 18 alleged former Marines, one of them was the supposed delivery of money to de Lima at a time when she was still in jail.
Año, said he will not allow any people to smear his reputation using fabricated and bogus claims, “My legal team is prepared to take all necessary actions.”
He said they are now conducting an investigation to determine if the press conference is part of the broader effort to undermine or destabilize government institutions.
“We’ll look into that aspect considering the confluence of events, the inconsistencies in the stories of the ex-Marines targeting officials in key institutions,” said Año. (Aaron Recuenco)
