Lacson stands by ex-DPWH exec’s accounts on kickbacks

Senator Panfilo Lacson on Wednesday reaffirmed his confidence in the testimony of former Public Works Undersecretary Roberto Bernardo, who claimed that he—not former Ako Bicol party-list Rep. Zaldy Co—delivered the billions of pesos in kickbacks allegedly tied to the P100-billion fund insertions in the 2025 national budget.

Lacson, chair of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, said Bernardo’s detailed account of moving up to P52 billion in illicit funds to two undersecretaries directly contradicts Co’s recent video statements.

“Pag-uwi niya, Sunday morning nagpatawag siya from his camp dahil may natuklasan siya nang mag-compare notes; naalala niya ito yung items na siya ang nangasiwa,” Lacson said.

(When he got home on Sunday morning, his camp called him as he discovered something after comparing notes — he remembered those items he had personally handled.)

“So agad sinabi niya sa akin hindi totoo sabi ni Zaldy Co, ako ang nag-deliver,” he added, quoting Bernardo.

(So immediately he told me ‘what Zaldy is saying is untrue because it was I who delivered those kickbacks.’)

Bernardo is a former DPWH undersecretary who oversaw major infrastructure-related operations within the agency.

He recently came forward to admit having handled billions in alleged kickbacks from public works projects, which he supposedly facilitated on behalf of lawmakers and other high-ranking officials of the government.

According to Lacson, Bernardo insisted that Co could not have been involved in delivering kickbacks from the P100-billion insertions because he did not know the breakdown of the amounts, Lacson said.

“Kasi P81 billion yung para sa DPWH, yung P18-19 billion for other agencies. hindi niya rin alam yun,” Lacson said in the same dzBB interview.

(P81 billion was for the DPWH (Department of Public Works and HIghways) and P18–19 billion was for other agencies. Co wouldn’t have known that.)

Breakdown of alleged cash movements

According to Lacson, Bernardo oversaw the movement of P52 billion in cash supposedly tied to inserted projects:

• P8 billion allegedly went to Education Undersecretary Trygve Olaivar and PLLO Undersecretary Adrian Bersamin
• P1 billion was delivered to then Public Works Secretary Manuel Bonoan

Bernardo further claimed that Olaivar demanded commissions for himself.

“Tapos binilinan siya (Bernardo) na ‘wag sasabihin kay Secretary Bonoan itong usapan natin.’ Conclusion lang doon ayaw niya ipasabi kay Secretary Bonoan, kasi sila Olaivar pa rin yun,” Lacson said.

(Bernardo was told not to tell Secretary Bonoan about this arrangement. The conclusion he drew is that he didn’t want Secretary Bonoan to be told because Olaivar and his group were behind it.)

“May sarili pang diskarte sina Olaivar na P8 billion,” the senator added.

(Olaivar even had his own separate scheme worth P8 billion.)

Bernardo also said Olaivar and Adrian Bersamin, on several occasions, physically received the cash and loaded them into armored vans.

“Tig-iisa sila ng armored van, minsan nagpapalit pa sila,” Lacson said.

(They each had an armored van; sometimes they even swapped vans.)

These vans were reportedly seen entering and exiting the Diamond Hotel basement from February to April 2024. Lacson said this could be verified through the hotel's CCTV footage.

“I-tsek nila sa Diamond Hotel yung dalawang armored van na yun na labas-masok,” he added.

(Investigators can check the CCTV footage and they will see that these two armored vans repeatedly went in and out during that span of time.)

Bernardo also claimed that Olaivar asked to delay one delivery of about P2 billion in March due to the politically tense climate surrounding the arrest of former President Rodrigo Duterte.

Role of other officials

Asked whether former Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin was implicated in the narrative, Lacson said the only reference to him came from a question raised by the former DPWH chief Bonoan.

“Tinatanong daw ni Secretary Manuel Bonoan kay ES (Executive Secretary) Bersamin kung sino ang magpapa-facilitate ng P52 billion,” Lacson said.

(Secretary Bonoan purportedly asked ES Bersamin who would facilitate the P52 billion.)

The senator said he advised Bernardo to formalize his handwritten notes, which the former DPWH official has now turned into a supplemental affidavit.

Lacson: Co’s P25-B claim ‘impossible’

Lacson said Bernardo’s account renders Co’s allegation mathematically and logistically untenable.

“Yung P52 billion nga ang nangasiwa si Bernardo, yung P29 billion naman sina Bonoan at sina Olaivar—saan siya (Co) kukuha ng P25 billion?” he said.

(If Bernardo handled P52 billion, and P29 billion was handled by Bonoan and Olaivar, so where would Co get the alleged P25 billion?)

“Kathang isip (It's fiction),” he added.

Insertions real

Lacson said Co was correct in saying that P100 billion in funding items had been inserted during bicameral deliberations.

“Navalidate namin sa GAA--nandoon talaga. Di masyadong accurate, may typo pero pareho. So pareho sabi ni Zaldy Co na may singit sa bicam,” he said.

(We have validated it in the GAA (General Appropriations Act)—it’s really there. The list is not perfectly accurate, as there were some typos, but they are the same. In that part, Co is right that items were inserted.)

However, Lacson stressed that this still does not support Co’s claim that kickbacks reached President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

He said Olaivar and Adrian Bersamin purportedly invoked the President’s name to push the insertions without Marcos’s knowledge.

But he also pointed out that Marcos vetoed P1.15 billion from the same list Co used as basis for his accusations.

“Kung ikaw ang pangulo na nagpasingit (ng P100 billion), bakit mo ibi-veto ang sarili mong singit?” he said.

(If you were the President and you ordered the P100 billion inserted, why would you veto your own insertion?)

Lacson reiterated his call for government officials to stop misusing the President’s name and distorting the budget process, saying such acts erode public trust.

“I think we have reached the point na dapat isipin natin (to realize that) enough is enough,” he said.—MCG, GMA Integrated News