State witness a billionaire? Bernardo vows to return P1B to gov’t
Former Public Works Undersecretary Roberto Bernardo has pledged to return around P1 billion to the government coffers as part of his restitution of kickbacks he received to be admitted into the witness protection program.
During Friday’s Sandiganbayan Third Division hearing on the malversation case against former Sen. Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr., Bernardo said the ex-senator had an allocation of P1.5 billion worth of public works projects funded in 2025 while he also allegedly got P500 million in “commitments” or kickbacks.
During the court hearing, Associate Justice Ronald Moreno raised the matter of restitution to test his credibility as a state witness.
Of the P1 billion, Bernardo told the court that he already returned “almost half” of that amount.
Moreno asked how much he was asked to restitute. Bernardo replied, “P1 billion.”
This amount makes the former public works official a “billionaire” who received the largest amount of kickbacks so far disclosed since the flood control scandal unraveled in August 2025.
Questions from court
During Friday’s court hearing, Moreno pressed Bernardo on how much he had already returned. The former public works official responded: “Half of that … per the requirement.”
The P1-billion figure was also cited by Sen. Panfilo Lacson following a hearing of the Senate blue ribbon committee on Nov. 24, 2025.
Lacson, the panel chair, said that Bernardo should return at least P1 billion from the kickbacks he allegedly received from government projects as part of his application for the witness protection program.
“Based on what we have gathered on his participation, I think it should not be less than P1 billion,” Lacson said. “That’s my personal view; I’m basing that on nothing but my personal information.”
Former Bulacan district engineer Henry Alcantara told the court last week that Bernardo did not earn any commission from projects in his district—the Bulacan First District Engineering Office.
Past disclosures
Moreno asked Bernardo about this part of Alcantara’s testimony. “That is highly incredible, highly unbelievable,” he said.
The Sandiganbayan justice pressed on. “Where else do you earn?” he asked.
“There are other transactions, Your Honor,” Bernardo said.
From Inquirer’s own research, Bernardo made the following disclosures on kickbacks:
On Nov. 14, 2025, he said in a supplemental affidavit submitted to the Senate blue ribbon committee, that there was allegedly a 10-percent commission from approved Edsa and other major road project applications, and in the maintenance of creeks and waterways.
‘Balato’
Bernardo said that half of the amount, which he did not specify, allegedly went to Carlo Aguilar, “presumably” for then Public Works Secretary now Sen. Mark Villar. The remaining half was divided equally between himself and the late Public Works Undersecretary Catalina Cabral.
He said he received a 3-percent kickback out of the P1.882-billion project listed by an aide to former Sen. Nancy Binay in 2022.
Testifying for the first time in the Sandiganbayan on March 17, Bernardo said he received a total of P130 million as “balato” (share) from then Rep. Elizaldy “Zaldy” Co from 2023 to 2025.
In August 2025, President Marcos revealed that only 15 out of over 2,000 contractors won 18 percent of government flood control contracts worth P545 billion from 2023 to 2025.
The disclosure prompted congressional inquiries which uncovered multibillion pesos worth of kickbacks from shoddy and nonexistent flood mitigation projects across the country, triggering public outrage. The flood control corruption and kickback scandal implicated both lawmakers and public works officials. —WITH A REPORT FROM INQUIRER RESEARCH
