The Department of Justice (DOJ) should charge the individuals responsible for Orly Gueza’s falsified sworn statement, Bicol Saro Party-list Representative Terry Ridon said.

RH Milky Rigonan reported on Wednesday, October 29, that the House Infra Committee Chairman believes that Guteza’s sworn statement is a clear and planned act of “political forgery” which was used to poison public discourse in the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee’s investigation into the anomalous flood control projects. Moreover, the lawmaker stated that it was also a way to tarnish some of the lawmakers’ reputations.

Ridon’s statement came after the Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC) Executive Judge Carolina Icasiano-Sison confirmed that the affidavit submitted was falsified. In turn, the former said that the ruling is a “decisive vindication of fact over fiction.”

The lawmaker is pushing to hold individuals responsible for the forgery of the document, stating that this act is an attack on the institution itself.

However, it was not just the sworn statement that was falsified, but also the notarized document. According to Rigonan, this was proven after authorities were able to validate that Atty. Petchie Rose Espera’s signature did not match the falsified “notarial details.”

Guteza appeared before the Blue Ribbon Committee last September, where he claimed that he, along with several others, personally delivered suitcases loaded with cash or “basura” to the houses of former House Speaker Martin Romualdez and former Ako Bicol Party-list Rep. Zaldy Co.

He boldly claimed that 46 suitcases, each containing roughly ₱48 million, were delivered in total.