A state witness in the malversation case connected to former Senator Bong Revilla stated that former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Engr. Brice Hernandez obtained P1.72 billion from various ghost projects.
Sally Santos, owner of Syms Construction Trading, revealed the information after she was called to testify in the third day of the ten day bail hearing of Hernandez, Revilla, and other co-accused before the Sandiganbayan’s Third Division this Wednesday.
Santos claimed that the funding for her supposed deliveries came from the 42 infrastructure projects in Bulacan that she said cost the government P1.8 billion.
Since the case itself only alleged P92.8 million were allocated for the ghost flood control projects, Associate Justice Ronald Moreno questioned Santos’ statements.
However, the contractor replied with a simple, “Yes” to Moreno’s clarificatory inquiry.
Out of the total amount, Santos said her largest delivery came in the form of a P400 million withdrawal that she said took her five hours to complete.
Asked where the rest of the P1.8 billion fund went, she said that the amount was provided to her as a supposed “royalty fee” for lending her company’s license to different entities.
The anti-graft court justices further interrogated Santos on if she had any other connections with the other officials indicted in the hearing, yet she maintained that it was only Hernandez that she dealt with.
Santos was officially classified as a state witness under the Department of Justice (DOJ) along with former DPWH officials Roberto Bernardo and Henry Alcantara, both of whom had previously appeared in the hearings against the accused.