A driver carried four to five bank boxes, each holding roughly P20 million, to a hotel along Roxas Boulevard — that delivery, according to former Bulacan District Engineer Henry Alcantara, accounted for P90 million meant as a kickback for then Senator Ramon Bong Revilla, Jr.
Alcantara, testifying as a prosecution witness on Monday, told the anti-graft court that the cash had been pulled together from advance payments made by contractors and gathered by personnel under him at the DPWH Bulacan First District Engineering Office. He said his former superior, ex-Public Works Undersecretary Roberto Bernardo, had directed him to produce the so-called commitment fee, and that he tapped his driver, Erwin San Diego, to bring the money to Bernardo.
“I was able to raise it (P90 million) from advance payment of contractors. I instructed him (San Diego) [to deliver them to Usec Bernardo],” Alcantara said.
Whether the full amount ever reached Revilla, Alcantara could not confirm.
His account came during the graft proceedings against Revilla and six co-accused, all tied to a P92.8 million flood control project in Pandi, Bulacan that investigators determined never existed.
Pressed on why he approved the disbursement papers for that project despite never inspecting the site himself, Alcantara pointed to the reports handed up by his subordinates, who are among Revilla’s co-accused. Those reports, he said, indicated the Pandi project was moving forward and had ultimately been finished.
“Yes [I signed them off] because I trust the reports they submitted to me,” he said, adding, “Meron pong mga pictures [na pinakita sa akin]. If I knew [that it was a ghost project], I would not have signed it.”
The paperwork authorizing payment passed through several hands, according to Alcantara. He identified the Statement of Work Accomplishment and the Monthly Certificate of Payment as documents bearing the signatures of accused former Assistant District Engineer Brice Hernandez along with ex-DPWH Engineers Jaypee Mendoza, Arjay Domasig and Emelita Juat. Separately, the List of Due and Demandable Accounts Payable – Advice to Debit Account carried his own signature together with those of DPWH finance section chief Juanito Mendoza and Bulacan First District Engineering Office cashier Christina Pineda, both also named as respondents.
