Department of Justice (DoJ)Undersecretary Jesse Andres on Friday said Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) engineers and a contractor are now “telling all,” providing enough evidence to implicate senators and lawmakers.
This includes Andres, named engineers Brice Hernandez, Henry Alcantara, Jaypee Mendoza, RJ Domasig, former DPWH Undersecretary Roberto Bernardo, and contractor Sally Santos.
He said that in the first interview, the engineers did a few anecdotes and narratives, and in the second interview, they gave a little more, but now they are telling everything.
Andres said that at this point, the DoJ has sufficient evidence to implicate a “handful” of senators and congressmen.
According to the sworn testimonies of Alcantara, Hernandez, and Mendoza, the National Bureau of Investigation previously recommended to the DoJ the prosecution of several lawmakers, including former Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero and former lawmaker Zaldy Co.
They all denied involvement in the said anomaly.
“There is a next batch of six cases ready for case build-up and eventual filing as preliminary investigation by middle or late next week,” Andres said.
“For the next batch, there will be proponents or politicians involved in downloading and who availed of the kickback, so you can expect a congressman, past or present, to be involved in the next batch of cases, senators, whether past or present… and other proponents who may be involved,” he added.
But Andres clarified that they have already informed the whistleblowers that they will not be given blanket immunity.