MANILA— A prosecution witness testified before the Sandiganbayan on Thursday that he delivered more than ₱1 billion in alleged kickbacks to former Ako Bicol party-list representative Zaldy Co in eight separate transactions linked to the plunder case against former House Speaker Martin Romualdez.

Wilt Walter Rosales, former personal assistant to state witness and former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Bulacan First District Engineering Office engineer Henry Alcantara, gave the testimony during the sixth day of the bail petition hearing of Romualdez before the anti-graft court’s Third Division.

Asked by Associate Justice Ronald Moreno whether the total amount delivered to Co reached ₱1 billion, Rosales said, “Maaari pong umabot mahigit [P1 billion],” or that it could have exceeded the amount.

Rosales identified eight delivery dates: February 2022, January and February 2023, September, October and December 2023, January 2024, and December 2024.

Three deliveries were made to Co’s Horizon residence in Taguig City, while five went to his residence in Valle Verde, Pasig City.

Rosales said plastic container boxes, referred to as duraboxes, were used for the 2022 deliveries before the team switched to suitcases in 2023.

He testified that he counted the cash with engineer Carlo Rivera of the Bulacan First District Engineering Office inside a room in Alcantara’s office before packing the money for delivery.

“Sampu-sampu po [na bundle na P100,000]. Kung sampu po siyang [bundles], P1 million na po iyon,” Rosales said, describing how the money was bundled in amounts of ₱100,000.

He said the largest amount he counted was approximately ₱100 million.

According to Rosales, a medium suitcase could hold ₱20 million, or as much as ₱25 million if expandable. A large suitcase could contain ₱20 million, rising to ₱40 million to ₱45 million if expandable.

Romualdez’s lawyers questioned these estimates, noting that Rosales’ judicial affidavit did not specify that he had delivered ₱25 million in a medium suitcase or ₱40 million in a large one.

Rosales said each suitcase carried a sticky note indicating the amount inside and that cash was counted during deliveries.

He also testified that he proposed using acknowledgment receipts (ARs) because Alcantara could not accompany every delivery. The receipts, he said, were signed by Co’s executive assistants, John Paul Estrada or Mark Ticsay.

Rosales said Alcantara would ask to see the receipts when he was not present during a delivery, then instruct him to discard them after confirming that the money had been delivered.

“Pinapakita ko po kay Henry Alcantara na okay na po ang acknowledgment receipt. Inuutos niya po sa akin na itapon na po,” Rosales said.

The receipts stated the total amount delivered but did not identify the number of suitcases or container boxes used to transport the cash. Rosales recalled that the largest amount indicated on a receipt was approximately ₱300 million.

He also testified that he prepared a separate document listing infrastructure projects, their appropriations and corresponding kickback percentages. The document was left with Co’s executive assistants, he said.

Rosales added that he heard Alcantara and Rivera discuss how the money came from contractors.

The prosecution is presenting the testimony as part of its case against Romualdez, Co, Alcantara’s personal assistant Joselyn Tragua Sereño and Samchan Foreign Exchange Corporation president Felicito Cristobal Guevarra over alleged kickbacks from infrastructure projects amounting to approximately ₱7.4 billion.

Security aides testify on suitcases

In earlier hearings, former members of Co’s security detail also testified about seeing suitcases transported to his condominium at Horizon Homes in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig.

Police Major Alvin Alvaro Nuguid, who served as Co’s close-in security from March 2024 to July 2025, said he saw an estimated 50 to 60 suitcases being moved in and out of the property.

Nuguid testified that Co’s executive assistants contacted him when deliveries, referred to as “special tasking,” were scheduled. He said these occurred two to three times weekly during his assignment.

“They will just tell me that there is a ‘tasking,’ that boss (Co) has orders,” Nuguid said.

He added that he learned from the executive assistants and former bodyguards that the suitcases allegedly contained cash. He recalled hearing colleagues joke, “May biruan po sila na ‘may pera sa basura,’” or that there was money in the trash.

Nuguid also testified that he saw Romualdez visit Co’s condominium in 2025, with the visit lasting about two hours. He said he accompanied Co to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in July 2025 for his flight to the United States ahead of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s State of the Nation Address.

Another former security aide, Police Chief Master Sergeant Larry Bellen, said he helped transport around 10 to 12 suitcases to Co’s unit after beginning work for him in 2018.

Bellen, however, told the court he had no personal knowledge of what the luggage contained.

He also recalled overhearing Co and his wife discussing how Romualdez had encouraged Co to seek a seat in the House of Representatives.

“Habang kumakain… nabanggit sa asawa niya na hinikayat [si Co] na ma-nominate sa Ako Bicol Partylist,” Bellen said.

Prosecution presents evidence on alleged links

The prosecution also presented Police Major Ermelo Dichoso Jr., who served as team leader of Co’s security detail from January 2024 to May 2025.

Dichoso testified that he accompanied Co to meetings at several properties that prosecutors linked to Romualdez, including a property on Aguado Street in Manila, two units at the Manila Polo Club Townhouse in Forbes Park, Makati City, and properties along Narra Road and Tamarind Road in the same subdivision.

He also claimed to have witnessed Co give Romualdez clothing as a gift at the Narra Road property in December 2024.

The prosecution and defense stipulated to the authenticity of land titles covering three properties: one on McKinley Road registered under Romualdez’s name, another on Narra Road registered under Brightnews, and a third on Tamarind Road registered under Golden Pheasant Holdings Corp.

Prosecutors described Brightnews and Golden Pheasant as companies holding properties for Romualdez’s benefit.

Meanwhile, the Sandiganbayan Third Division said law enforcement agencies had yet to provide an update on the implementation of arrest warrants against Romualdez’s co-accused, including Co, Sereño and Guevarra.

Co, who chaired the House Committee on Appropriations from July 2022 to January 2025, resigned from the House in September 2025 and is now a fugitive.

The allegations remain subject to judicial proceedings, with the witnesses’ accounts forming part of the prosecution’s evidence in Romualdez’s bail hearing.