ICI reviews Bernardo claim tagging 3 more senators
The plan of the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) to recommend this week a new set of charges against three more senators has been delayed.
ICI Chair Andres Reyes Jr. told reporters on Wednesday that the probe body will still have to “reevaluate” the affidavits submitted by former Public Works Undersecretary Roberto Bernardo, one of the officials so far found to have criminal and administrative liability over several anomalous flood control projects, before it comes up with recommendations to the Office of the Ombudsman against the unnamed legislators.
“We are evaluating everything because of the affidavit of (Bernardo). So we’re studying that. So we’ll have a delay of maybe 10 days… Hopefully, we’ll finish it,” he said in a media briefing.
The review will cover the first and second affidavits that the former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) official presented before the commission when he appeared as a resource person in September.
The ICI chair last week said that the three senators are aside from incumbent Senators Jinggoy Estrada and Joel Villanueva, who were among the respondents in the ICI referral to the Ombudsman last Oct. 29.
Bernardo had skipped multiple scheduled appearances before the ICI in the last two months, citing medical reasons.
He was supposed to attend the hearings again this week, but did not appear on the grounds that he has applied to be admitted into the Witness Protection Program under Republic Act No. 6981.
A confidentiality clause in the law restrains Bernardo from disclosing further information related to his application as a state witness, ICI Executive Director Brian Hosaka had explained.
During the resumption of the Senate blue ribbon panel’s inquiry into the flood-control projects scandal on Friday, Bernardo repeated his previous testimonies implicating former senators Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. and Nancy Binay as well as incumbent Senators Francis Escudero and Jinggoy Estrada as among the legislators alleged to have received “commitments” or kickbacks from DPWH projects.
“Moving forward, expect more names to come out and more filings to follow. We will continue to work hard for the Filipino people,” Reyes vowed.
Lookout bulletin
Also on Wednesday, the ICI asked the Department of Justice (DOJ), through the Bureau of Immigration (BI), to issue an immigration lookout bulletin order (Ilbo) against 17 individuals, including officers of Sunwest Inc., the construction firm founded by former Ako Bicol Rep. Zaldy Co, in light of the criminal cases filed against them in the Sandiganbayan on Monday.
In a request letter addressed to DOJ officer in charge secretary acting Justice Secretary Fredderick Vida, Reyes said the Ilbo request was in relation to the criminal cases filed on Tuesday by the Ombudsman at the Sandiganbayan against Co, several officials of the DPWH, and key officers of Co’s construction company Sunwest Inc.
An Ilbo enables the BI to monitor an individual’s travel and is different from a hold departure order, which the court issues to bar a person from leaving the country.
The Ilbos were requested for Sunwest president and chair Aderma Alcazar; treasurer Cesar Buenaventura, and board members Consuelo Aldon, Anthony Ngo and Noel Cao.
The others were DPWH officers and personnel from the DPWH Mimaropa (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, Palawan) office, including its regional director Gerald Pacanan; assistant regional directors Gene Ryan Altea and Ruben Santos Jr., bids and awards committee (BAC) chair Dominic Serrano; BAC vice chair Friedrich Camero, project engineer III Felisardo Casuno; materials engineer Timojen Sacar; accountant IV Lerma Cayco, and BAC member Grace Lopez.
Also asked to be covered by an Ilbo were the officers in charge or heads of various DPWH divisions: Montrexis Tamayo (planning and design); Juliet Calvo (maintenance), and Dennis Abagon (quality assurance and hydrology).
“Given the seriousness of the charges and the ongoing proceedings, their participation remains essential and there is a reasonable possibility that they may attempt to leave the country while the cases are pending,” the ICI said in the request letter signed by Reyes.
It added that the prompt issuance of an Ilbo is necessary to avert any attempts to obstruct the proceedings and ensure continuity of the probe.
Meanwhile, among the next resource persons the ICI is looking to call in is Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Undersecretary Rolando Toledo, who was recently named officer in charge after Amenah Pangandaman stepped down, Reyes noted.
Co, in a series of videos on social media, implicated Pangdandaman as one of the Cabinet officials who supposedly relayed and confirmed the instruction of Mr. Marcos to insert pet projects amounting to P100 billion during the deliberations for the 2025 budget when he was chair of the House appropriations committee.
“We’d like to talk to the new one (DBM OIC),” Reyes said, adding that the ICI would like to get Toledo’s insights about the “budget process.”
