Bernardo: Lawmakers received 3% to 5% for ‘parking’ infrastructure projects

Lawmakers received 3% to 5% of infrastructure project costs as “parking fees” for allowing projects proposed by other congressmen to be placed in their respective districts, former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) undersecretary Roberto Bernardo testified during the bail hearing of former House Speaker Martin Romualdez on Thursday.

Bernardo explained that the payments came from congressmen or project proponents who sought to have their projects “parked” in another district.

The practice emerged when lawmakers were unable to use their respective “allocables,” or portions of the national budget earmarked for their districts, he said.

Bernardo said the concept of allocables was formulated by the late former DPWH undersecretary Cathy Cabral as a share for each district.

He clarified that allocables were separate from the leadership fund he had previously testified was provided to senators and congressmen. Only members of the House of Representatives received allocables, he added.

Issues within DPWH

Earlier in his testimony, Bernardo cited flaws in the DPWH system involving funding, project implementation and lawmakers’ intervention.

He said project proponents could influence the budget process by communicating directly with former DPWH Secretary Manuel Bonoan or the Department of Budget and Management.

Proponents did not directly participate in project implementation and were instead limited to monitoring and consultation, Bernardo said.

He added that there was nothing inherently wrong with being a project proponent, provided the person did not receive kickbacks from the proposed projects.

However, Bernardo told the court during questioning that, based on his experience, no project proponent had gone without receiving kickbacks from DPWH infrastructure projects.

Regarding Romualdez, Bernardo said he had no personal knowledge of whether the former House speaker had served as a project proponent. He said Romualdez had never approached him to obtain a list of projects for funding.

The Office of the Ombudsman charged Romualdez with plunder on 16 September over allegations that he amassed P7.4 billion in ill-gotten wealth from infrastructure projects between 2022 and 2025.

Former congressman Zaldy Co and two members of his household staff were also charged in the case. All three remain at large.

Romualdez’s bail hearing is scheduled to resume on 9 November.