10 Ex-Bodyguards of Former Lawmaker Zaldy Co Arrested for Perjury

At least 10 of the 18 former bodyguards of ex-lawmaker Zaldy Co were arrested after they failed to post bail in their perjury charges. Dubbed as the “maleta boys” for their claims of delivering bags of money to different personalities, the former bodyguards face numerous charges of perjury from the people they accused of corruption. However, four of these maleta boys have since recanted their statements. In a DZBB report from Rhommel Balasbas on Friday, 11 of the remaining 14 ex-bodyguards failed to post bail after being issued an arrest warrant because they failed to go to the Landbank. Only three of them were able to post bail. While 11 were supposed to be detained, only 10 were read their Miranda rights and taken into custody. The whereabouts of the 11th ex-bodyguard have yet to be determined. The 10 ex-bodyguards were taken to Las Piñas City Police Station, where they will remain over the weekend. Each bodyguard faced four counts of perjury charges, so each of them needed to pay a total bail of P72,000 each. According to their lawyer Levito Baligod, they have been trying to post bail at the Las Piñas court since 8:30 AM. “Mula alas 8:30 ng umaga hanggang ngayon ay hindi na-process ng court ang pagpiyansa ng Brave 14, at gusto nilang ipakulong sila over the weekend na kung saan ay maraming masamang puwedeng mangyari sa kanila,” Baligod said on Facebook. (From 8:30 in the morning until now, the court has not processed the bail of the Brave 14, and they want to keep them here over the weekend, where a lot of things could happen to them.) At least four of the 18 former bodyguards have recanted their statements. Baligod said that he was no longer the counsel for the four who left their camp. —LDF, GMA News