MANILA — A former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) district engineer told the Sandiganbayan that his staff delivered P213 million in alleged kickbacks to former DPWH Undersecretary Roberto Bernardo at a Manila hotel in the second quarter of 2025.

Henry Alcantara, a state witness in the flood control budget kickback investigation, identified Senator Jinggoy Estrada as the alleged recipient of the commitment fees collected from infrastructure projects in two Bulacan district engineering offices.

In a report, it said that the amount consisted of P88 million from P355 million worth of projects in the Bulacan First District Engineering Office (DEO) and P125 million from P500 million worth of projects in the Bulacan Third DEO.

Both amounts represented 25% commitment fees for projects allegedly proposed by Estrada, according to Alcantara.

He said the collection for the two district offices was consolidated into a single delivery after Bernardo instructed him to include the commitment fee from the Third DEO in the batch.

“P88 million was [set to be] delivered [to Diamond Hotel for Estrada] for P355 million. It was Usec Bernardo who told me to collect [the commitment for] P500 million, na isabay na iyong sa Bulacan Third DEO [na commitment fee] para isang bagsakan,” Alcantara told the Sandiganbayan Fifth Division.

Alcantara said Bernardo had initially informed him during a budget hearing that P355 million in funding remained for Estrada and instructed him to submit a list of projects.

“During budget hearing, I was told by Usec. Bernardo [that] there is P355 million funding left for SJE (Estrada). According to him, if I need pondo, submit the list [of projects for Estrada],” he said.

However, Alcantara testified that he only learned about Estrada’s alleged involvement in the P500 million worth of projects under the Third DEO when Bernardo later instructed him to collect the corresponding commitment fee.

During cross-examination, the defense highlighted that Alcantara had no independent knowledge that the P125 million was intended for Estrada until Bernardo informed him.

“For this particular amount of P355 million, this is only senator Estrada,” Alcantara said when asked by the defense about the proponent of the projects.

“Lahat ng perang kinolekta ko binigay ko kay Usec Bernardo,” he added.

Alcantara also stressed that he never personally dealt with Estrada, saying all transactions involving project proposals and commitment fees went through Bernardo.

Estrada is facing a P573 million plunder charge over his alleged involvement in the flood control budget kickback scheme.

PROJECT COSTS

During the hearing, Associate Justice Maryann Corpus-Mañalac asked Alcantara how contractors generated funds for the commitment fees and whether they inflated the prices of construction materials.

Alcantara denied that contractors overpriced materials, saying they followed an established price list.

Instead, he testified that projects were allegedly “overdesigned” by increasing the quantities of construction materials to generate money for commitment fees demanded by project proponents.

BID-RIGGING

In a separate line of questioning, the defense challenged Philippine Competition Commission Investigation Division witness Lenvic Lesigues on how alleged bid-rigging in infrastructure projects could have gone undetected despite the use of the government’s online bidding platform.

Lesigues explained that the commission’s monitoring was confined to information encoded on the platform.

He said he had no knowledge of transactions or arrangements made outside the website.