MALACAÑANG on Thursday said the recent exposé of 18 former personnel of the Philippine Marines could be politically motivated and meant to divert the public’s attention from the ongoing proceedings in the International Criminal Court (ICC). Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary Claire Castro issued the statement in reaction to former congressman Mike Defensor’s remarks that there is a “second batch” of ex-soldiers willing to come out and give their own accounts of the alleged P805-billion cash run in the flood control scandal supposedly orchestrated by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and former House speaker Martin Romualdez. They also claimed that former senator Antonio Trillanes IV “wined and dined” ICC investigators to pin former president Rodrigo Duterte, who is facing crimes against humanity charges. Defensor also said there are attempts to prevent the former military men from speaking out. “Mike Defensor, the known wonder boy. Many of his speeches encourage our countrymen to remove our president from office. We already know the motive,” Castro said in Filipino in a press briefing. She likened Defensor to Ador Mawanay, who, back in 2001, claimed to be a civilian agent of the defunct Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force under the Estrada administration, and linked then-Philippine National Police chief and now senator Panfilo Lacson to alleged criminal activities. He recanted two years later claiming that he was under pressure to give false testimony, and was subsequently removed from the government’s witness protection program. “Mike Defensor again, Ador Mawanay 2.0 — the word ‘Mawanay’ is known because he was allegedly forced to make fake narratives,” Castro said. She went on to assert that a former official during the term of former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (GMA) is also moving behind the scenes. “We have information that a person from the administration of GMA was an operator whose only job was to muddle the issues. When this person is involved in an issue, something is fishy,” Castro said. “It is possible that, whatever their motives are, they want to strip the ICC of its credibility and integrity. But we are more concerned about the lies they are throwing at our president,” she added. Castro also insisted that the Marcos administration is not involved in any way with the ICC nor will the chief executive meddle or wield influence in the tribunal’s processes, particularly its decision to grant Duterte’s request not to appear at the pretrial on Friday, Feb. 27. “The president and his whole administration will not interfere in the said hearing. If the former president chose not to appear in public, that is his decision,” Castro said in Filipino. “If the ICC permitted him not to show up at his own hearing, we will respect that,” she added. The official also reiterated that there is no “secret agreement” between Marcos and the ICC despite earlier allegations that foreign investigators were bribed to ensure Duterte’s arrest and later on his conviction. The joint affidavit of 18 former military personnel alleging the delivery of large sums of cash to government officials was finalized and notarized on Feb. 23, their lawyer Levy Baligod said Thursday. In a radio interview, Baligod said the sworn statements were carefully reviewed and validated before being consolidated into a single notarized document. The affidavit contains the accounts of 16 former members of the Philippine Marines and two former Army personnel who claimed to have witnessed and handled paper bags containing cash delivered to various officials. Sworn statement He said the affidavit was intended to provide the Office of the Ombudsman with a prima facie basis to investigate possible violations of anti-graft and public accountability laws. Sensitive information, including specific addresses and certain individuals’ alleged involvement, was withheld from the public version to protect privacy and security, he said. Individual affidavits of each witness are expected to be submitted during formal Ombudsman proceedings, where they may be subjected to further questioning and verification. The former soldiers initially agreed to go public in January, citing concerns over what they described as the misuse of government funds that they claimed affected public services, including hospitals. De Lima wrongly named Baligod also acknowledged that the public version of the affidavit contained minor errors, including the inclusion of Mamamayang Liberal Party-list Rep. Leila de Lima. He said the witnesses did not personally see cash being delivered to de Lima. “It could be an oversight that I included her name in the list of congresspersons,” Baligod said, saying that the mistake stemmed from his consolidation of various accounts rather than from the soldiers’ sworn statements themselves. According to the affidavit, some of the alleged cash handling occurred during meetings at a town house in the Manila Polo Club in Makati City, where the soldiers claimed they saw paper bags containing large sums of money. Baligod said de Lima attended certain meetings related to discussions on the International Criminal Court proceedings, but the witnesses did not state that they delivered money to her. “It is possible that her name appeared because she attended meetings where cash transfers occurred, but the witnesses did not deliver money to her,” he said. “I want to make it clear that this was an oversight. It could create the impression she received cash, but the witnesses themselves did not claim that,” Baligod said. Baligod also denied coordinating with politicians before holding the press conference announcing the affidavit. Former House deputy speaker Defensor assisted with logistical arrangements, including transportation for the witnesses, Baligod said, but did not influence the content or timing of the press conference. “The initiative to go public and to submit the affidavit was independent,” Baligod said, reiterating that their objective was to bring the allegations before the proper authorities for formal investigation.