Sens. Alan Peter Cayetano, Pia Cayetano, Imee Marcos, Rodante Marcoleta, and Robin Padilla join 18 Marines inside the Senate plenary hall in Pasay City on June 4, 2026, as the Blue Ribbon Committee resumes its inquiry into flood control projects. INQUIRER PHOTO / NIÑO JESUS ORBETA
MANILA, Philippines — The recent recantation of four “maleta boys” mirrors a Duterte-era pattern of using unreliable witnesses and manufactured evidence to target political figures, according to a public interest lawyer.
“It is a clear pattern of manufacturing evidence that we have seen before,” Atty. Dino de Leon said during the Saturday News Forum at Dapo Restaurant in Quezon City.
De Leon said the same pattern was seen in the cases filed against former senator and now Mamayang Liberal Rep. Leila de Lima during the administration of then – President Rodrigo Roa Duterte.
READ: ‘Greatest frame-up’ unraveling – De Lima lawyer
