Court told: Brice got P299M in boxes of soy sauce, chips
The goddaughter of former Public Works engineer Brice Hernandez on Monday testified in court that Hernandez received around P299 million cash placed inside boxes of grocery items like “toyo” (soy sauce) and Piattos potato chips.
Monica Louis Ocampo-Santos, the liaison officer of SYMS Construction, made the revelation on the witness stand of the Sandiganbayan Third Division during the bail hearing for the malversation case of former Sen. Bong Revilla and six of his coaccused, including Hernandez.
SYMS Construction was the contractor behind the over P92.8-million flood control project in Pandi, Bulacan, that the court found to have no visible structures apart from a number of steel sheet piles during an inspection.
Sally Santos, owner of SYMS Construction, earlier admitted that she lent the company’s franchise to Hernandez in exchange for a 3-percent “royalty” fee in the project.
At the bail hearing, Ocampo-Santos said she was among those who delivered the P299 million worth of cash, including the P74 million allotted for the Pandi project, to Hernandez’s office on May 20, 2025.
The cost of the Pandi project was over P90 million, but only around P74 million was left after the value-added tax, plus the 10-percent retention fee and the 3-percent “royalty” fee of Santos, were deducted from it, she said.
The P299 million, consisting of several bundles of P1,000 in cash, were placed inside boxes of soy sauce, coffee, instant noodles, and Piattos, she added.
According to Ocampo-Santos, the amount was withdrawn from a Landbank branch in Malolos City, but said she was not there when the withdrawal took place.
Replying to questions from Associate Justice Ronald Moreno, Ocampo-Santos said Santos is her aunt-in-law, while Hernandez stood as one of the godfathers at her wedding in November 2022.
No direct dealings
At the Monday bail hearing, Ocampo-Santos said she had no direct dealings with Revilla and that she did not know what the “SBR” initials meant. The three-letter initials allegedly referred to the proponent of the Pandi project.
Revilla attended the hearing, but later asked to be excused.
After the hearing, Revilla’s legal counsel Reody Anthony Balisi said the former senator suffered from migraine, which he said could be due to the heat in his jail cell.
Revilla had already posted a P90,000 bail for his graft case, but he remains detained at the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology facility in Quezon City since his malversation case is nonbailable.
The bail hearing for Revilla and his coaccused will last until April 24.
