Former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) undersecretary Roberto Bernardo revealed that bidding processes undertaken for the awarding of government projects were rigged, with the winning contractor being pre-selected and the participating contractors being provided a “sahod.”

Bernardo appeared at the Sandiganbayan Third Division on Tuesday, 4 August, as hearings on the malversation case against former senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla and other officials from the DPWH District Engineering Office (DEO) of Bulacan resumed.

The former public works executive told the court that the scheme when it came to kickbacks in infrastructure projects extended to when contractors were selected for the project through what he said was a “simulated” bidding process.

Lawmakers supposedly informed the DPWH of their preferred contractor which would be coordinating with a particular DEO that a project was designated for even before the National Expenditure Program (NEP) was constructed.

In order for a bidding to still take place, however, other contractors were called to take part in the scheme as there was a monetary benefit in the form of a “sahod,” coming from the designated contractor.

Bernardo clarified that there were still legitimate bidders and that he did not necessarily view those participating in the rigged scheme as “conspirators.”

The former DPWH official turned state witness mentioned that he came to know of the scheme when he was working within the district offices of the public works agency, noting that the scheme did not occur within the central office.

Secretary Bonoan had a lump sum for lawmakers

Another process that Bernardo disclosed to the Sandiganbayan when it came to the allocation of projects to lawmakers was that former DPWH Secretary Manuel Bonoan supposedly had a lump sum of P10 billion which was meant to be allocated for lawmakers requesting a budget.

Bernardo said that he came across the amount through a Management Committee meeting that he said he was part of, noting that the fund has been placed in the NEP and was under the discretion of Bonoan.

Through some transactions with the former Public Works secretary, the allocations were still processed through the use of required documents.

Contrary to the statements of his fellow state witness and former district engineer Henry Alcantara, Bernardo claimed that no project under the DPWH was included in the budget without the knowledge of Bonoan.

The witness said that he along with the late undersecretary Cathy Cabral and Bonoan took shares from the 15 percent kickback taken from infrastructure projects, with 50 percent going to the former DPWH executive and the rest being split between Bernardo and Cabral.

All senators except Senator Lacson

Under the national budgets of 2024 and 2025, Bernardo disclosed that Revilla was allocated a total of P2 billion in the budget intended for infrastructure projects.

Aside from the accused senator, other senators also asked for allocations with the lone solon that did not request for any allocation being Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson.

Bernardo mentioned that there was nothing inherently illegal from asking for a budget for projects, it became illegal when lawmakers took kickbacks from the projects.

With the conclusion of the testimony of the former DPWH official, state prosecutors informed the court that they intend to present Bonoan as their next witness in the proceedings which was scheduled for 12 August.

In a recent development, the Sandiganbayan Second Division denied the motion of the Ombudsman to exclude Bonoan from the case filed against Senator Jinggoy Estrada.

Notably, the anti-graft court’s Fifth Division that handles Estrada and Bonoan’s plunder and graft charges has yet to issue a decision on the matter.