Former usec’s confession drags incumbent, ex-senators
A former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) official became the latest source of bombshell testimonies in the Senate blue ribbon committee investigation into anomalous flood control projects, implicating a sitting senator and two former senators.
In his first appearance before the Senate panel on Thursday, former DPWH Undersecretary Roberto Bernardo named Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero and former Senators Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. and Nancy Binay as among those who allegedly took cuts from allocations intended for infrastructure projects. He also tagged Ako Bicol Rep. Zaldy Co, whose P4.7-billion air assets have been recently ordered frozen by the government.
He called the cuts taken by these officials as “commitment” ranging from 15 percent to 25 percent of the budget for specific projects.
Climbed the ranks
Bernardo, who said he started out in 1985 as a laborer in the agency, also told senators later in the hearing that it was then incoming DPWH secretary and now Sen. Mark Villar who appointed him as undersecretary in 2017.
“The highly sensitive nature of the disclosures in my affidavit cannot be stressed enough. This deals with the involvement in the irregularities of [three] senators and one congressman, one member of [a] constitutional commission, and one undersecretary, seriously undermining public trust in two out of three branches of our government […],” Bernardo, reading from his prepared affidavit, stated.
He also implicated Commission on Audit (COA) Commissioner Mario Lipana and Department of Education Undersecretary Trygve Olaivar, as well as DPWH officials including district engineers Henry Alcantara and Brice Hernandez, who have been tagged earlier.
According to Bernardo, his allegations were based on personal knowledge and direct interactions with those involved.
20-percent cut
He admitted he was close friends with businessman Maynard Ngu, who donated P30 million for Escudero’s 2022 senatorial campaign.
Ngu, Bernardo claimed, had asked him to submit a list of projects for inclusion in the General Appropriations Act (GAA); they later agreed on a 20-percent cut.
“After inclusion of the projects in the GAA, I delivered 20 percent of approximately P800 million, or about P160 million, which was meant for Senator Escudero,” Bernardo said. He added that he personally delivered the cash to Ngu at his Manila office in the first quarter of this year.
Bernardo further recalled that he was summoned to Escudero’s office in August 2022 where they discussed a “streetlight project” in Sorsogon. In 2023, he again met with Escudero in a private room of an establishment where the latter told him in Filipino: “I know how you do things there in the DPWH. I’m okay. Tell the secretary to send something my way.”
Same modus
Bernardo also alleged a similar arrangement with Revilla, whom he said he met in 2024 when he provided the former senator with a list of projects from Alcantara.
“Senator Revilla asked for a commitment, which I suggested, then he approved at 25 percent of the total amount of projects indicated in the list,” Bernardo said.
He claimed the 25 percent commitment, amounting to P125 million, was collected by Alcantara and delivered by him to Revilla’s house in Cavite.
Bernardo further alleged that a similar deal was made with Binay, whom he said he met through her aide, Carleen Villa.
“Sometime in the year 2024, Carleen Villa called me and asked for a commitment which was set at 15 percent of the total amount of the projects indicated in the list,” Bernardo said.
He said Alcantara later delivered the P37 million commitment to Binay at her house in Quezon City.
‘Shared equally’
Meanwhile, Bernardo said his first encounter with Co was when the lawmaker personally called him to ask whether Alcantara was reasonable to talk to—to which he responded “Yes.”
“Engineer Alcantara then told me that Congressman Zaldy Co was asking for 25 percent commission, and out of that amount, 2 percent was to be shared equally between Alcantara and myself,” he said.
“Furthermore, engineer Alcantara would tell me every time that he made deliveries of cash to Congressman Zaldy Co, in compliance with his commitment [with the lawmaker],” he added.
Unprogrammed funds
Bernardo said Olaivar, who once worked under Revilla before transferring to the office of then Sen. Sonny Angara, also transacted with him.
“Sometime in 2024, Undersecretary Olaivar personally called me for a meeting to discuss unprogrammed appropriations supposedly for the office of the Executive Secretary,” Bernardo said.
“In the said meeting, he requested me to submit a list of projects … thereafter Alcantara submitted a list of projects worth P2.85 billion,” he added.
Bernardo said he and Olaivar agreed to a 15-percent cut. He claimed he later delivered the amount to Olaivar in Magallanes, Makati, and other locations.
He also recalled that the COA’s Lipana asked to be referred to DPWH’s Bulacan first district officers, which he did through Hernandez.
However, he said he had no knowledge whether Lipana was able to secure a project.
In a previous hearing, Alcantara said he worked with Bernardo in maneuvering budget insertions and delivering kickbacks for Senators Joel Villanueva and Jinggoy Estrada, Revilla, Co and former Caloocan Rep. Mitch Cajayon-Uy.
State witness
During his testimony, Bernardo took accountability for having committed wrongdoings and allowed himself to be an instrument for evil.
“I am ready to do everything to correct my mistakes and prevent this from happening again,” he said.
He added that he had previously applied to the Department of Justice for coverage as a state witness under Republic Act No. 6981.
In response, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla, who was also present, said his agency would evaluate Bernardo’s statements.
“This matter has to be done because of the gravity of the situation and we may have to really work overtime on necessary legal matters so we can preserve the monies and other things that are involved in this discussion,” Remulla said. —WITH A REPORT FROM CHARIE ABARCA
