MANILA — The government has recovered more than PHP316 million in restitution from state witnesses involved in cases linked to the ghost flood control projects, a Department of Justice (DOJ) official said Thursday.

At a press briefing, acting DOJ Secretary Fredderick Vida said the recovered funds came from several individuals: Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Bulacan district engineer Henry Alcantara, PHP181 million; DPWH Regional Director Gerard Opulencia, PHP80 million; DPWH Undersecretary Roberto Bernardo, PHP35 million; and government contractor Sally Santos, PHP20 million.

“Sila po ay nakikipagtulungan sa Department of Justice para po mapalakas ‘yung ating mga kaso laban doon sa ating gustong habulin (They are helping the DOJ to strengthen our cases against those we want to run after),” Vida said.

DOJ Undersecretary Nicholas Ty said the government expects to recover a total of PHP1.5 billion in restitution from four state witnesses for alleged kickbacks linked to the ghost project contracts.

“Ang estimate doon sa apat, lalampas sa PHP1.5 billion (It is estimated that the total money they committed to return will reach more than PHP1.5 billion),” Ty said.

Prosecutor General Richard Anthony Fadullon added that two former DPWH assistant district engineers, Brice Hernandez and Jaypee Mendoza, have not been accepted as state witnesses at this time.

“Sa ngayon wala kaming nakikitang pangangailangan para sila ay i-discharge namin, at least, tungkol dito sa mga kaso kung saan sila ay lumalapit para matanggap bilang testigo estado (At the moment, we see no need to have them discharged as state witnesses in the cases where they applied as state witnesses),” Fadullon said.