Romualdez: Zaldy Co ex-employees accused Baligod of offering money to link ex-Speaker to cash deliveries

Romualdez: Zaldy Co ex-employees accused Baligod of offering money to link ex-Speaker to cash deliveries

Several former employees of former Ako Bicol party-list Rep. Zaldy Co accused Atty. Levi Baligod and others of offering them money in exchange for joining the 18 ex-bodyguards in linking former Speaker and Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez and the former House appropriations chairman to the deliveries of huge amounts of cash in suitcases.

This is according to the supplemental counter-affidavit that Romualdez submitted to the Ombudsman on Friday, August 21, in response to the plunder, graft, bribery, and money laundering complaints that Ombudsman prosecutors filed against him.

Among the pieces of evidence against Romualdez before the Ombudsman are the individual affidavits of Co's former bodyguards, who claimed to have delivered pieces of luggage containing cash to the former Speaker.

The 13 former employees have executed individual affidavits, and these have been attached to Romualdez's supplemental counter-affidavit.

1. Eduard Lupian, former security detail of Co from December 2023 to December 2025
2. Eric Soriano, former security detail of Co from February 2024 to February 2026
3. Arnilo Ramirez, Sunwest employee and backup driver and security detail of Co’s wife Marlyn
4. Nelson Paira, driver and security detail of Co’s wife Marlyn and daughter Zoe from January 2019 to January 2026
5. Henry Oabina, Co’s driver and security personnel from February 2024 to December 2025
6. Jerick Alamil, Co’s security detail and backup driver from March 2023 to February 2026
7. Willson Urmanita, Co’s driver and security detail from November 2024 to December 2025
8. Dennis Loma, Co’s driver and security detail from March 2022 to February 2026
9. Moises Limboy, Co’s security detail from October 2024 to December 2025
10. Mark Bunagan, Co and his family’s bodyguard from April 2022 to January 2026
11. Jovito Bunagan, Co’s bodyguard from March 2021 to January 2026
12. Bryan Lazaga, Co’s security detail from December 2023 to December 2025
13. Ranjie Paga, Co’s bodyguard from February 2022 to February 2026

The 13 said they were promised money in exchange for accusing Romualdez and Co of receiving large sums of cash in suitcases as kickbacks from government projects, delivered by the bodyguards.

Baligod was then the counsel on record of the 18 ex-bodyguards.

GMA News Online has sought comment from him and will publish it as soon as it is available.

One of the affiants said Baligod tried to convince him to testify against Romualdez through one of the ex-bodyguards, who have since recanted their own statements against the former Speaker.

There were also 12 other individual affidavits by former employees of Co attached to Romualdez’s supplemental counter-affidavit, but these 12 did not mention Baligod or attempts to woo them with money.

These 12 individuals, however, backed the accounts of the 13 that they have not seen such deliveries of cash kickbacks in suitcases during their tenure of employment under Co. –NB, GMA News