MANILA, Philippines — Former Sen. Antonio “Sonny” Trillanes IV has filed a cyberlibel case before the Department of Justice (DOJ) against Sens. Alan Peter Cayetano and Rodante Marcoleta, along with 18 “bodyguards” of former congressman Zaldy Co.
The complaint stemmed from what Trillanes describes as a “rogue” Senate blue ribbon committee hearing held last June 4, 2026, during which the respondents allegedly hurled fabricated, defamatory accusations linking him to claims involving the bribery of representatives of the International Criminal Court (ICC).
READ: Matibag: Blue-ribbon ‘hearing’ participants may face charges
“They repeated the lies they told about giving me suitcases full of money supposedly for the ICC. That is not true, so for every word and every occasion that they repeat that lie, I will file a case against them,” Trillanes told reporters.
On Cayetano and Marcoleta, Trillanes said both senators did not merely act as passive observers during the proceeding.
The complaint stated that the two senators posed leading questions that enabled the 18 men to parrot what they had been saying.
READ: Trillanes tags Duterte’s camp in $2 million ICC bribery allegation
Trillanes said the peak of the chaos at the Senate was when a quorum of 12 senators declared all elected positions vacant, effectively ousting Alan Peter Cayetano as Senate president and Sen. Pia Cayetano as chair of the Blue ribbon committee. Sens. Sherwin Gatchalian and Erwin Tulfo were subsequently installed as acting Senate president and blue ribbon chair, respectively.
Acting Senate President Gatchalian declared June 4 a non-working day for Senate staff, and Tulfo officially suspended the scheduled flood control irregularities hearing.
Despite this, Pia Cayetano proceeded with a “so-called Blue Ribbon hearing” on June 4, which Trillanes contends lacked any official authority or sanction under Senate rules.
“The June 4, 2026 so-called ‘Blue Ribbon hearing’ was a sham, a farce, a mockery of the official hearing… At most, it can be considered an ordinary or regular press conference, dressed in the guise of a public hearing,” Trillanes stated in his complaint.
During the June 4 hearing, which was broadcast live on Alan Peter Cayetano’s verified Facebook page and garnered over 15 million views, respondent Bernard Gumban testified that he personally delivered a large paper bag containing ₱5 million to ₱10 million, and later, “six suitcases” of mixed sizes filled with cash to the Magdalo headquarters on Scout Ojeda Street in Quezon City.
Another respondent, Belnard Tube, insinuated that the money was exchanged into US dollars to fund or assist ICC investigators looking into the drug war killings of the Duterte administration.
The complaint also underscores a deliberate conspiracy between the former Marines and Senators Cayetano and Marcoleta. Trillanes noted that Cayetano explicitly used the phrase “male-maleta implies bribery” during the live broadcast, while Marcoleta delivered impassioned remarks branding Trillanes’ coordination with the ICC as rapacious and traitorous to the country. /das
