Bersamin, Olaivar face flood control raps

MANILA, Philippines — Graft and corruption charges have been filed against for merundersecretaries Adrian Bersamin and Trygve Olaivar over alleged kickbacks in in frastructure projects.

Filed before the ombudsman, the complaint accuses the two former officials of receiving billions of pesos in kickbacks, including P8 billion in alleged payments to President Marcos.

“There appears to be a multibillion-peso ‘commitment-insertion-kickback’ scam running from the highest rungs of the Marcos administration,” the com plaint read.

“Marcos ordered budgetary insertions, which ‘facilitators’ include in the budget for assured funding, after which operators handled and delivered billions in kickbacks for him,” it added.

Complainants alleged that Bersamin appeared to be the “runner, bagman and disbursing officer” of kickbacks, directly reporting to the President.

Bersamin and Olaivar’s resignation from their respective posts in the Palace and Department of Education is an attempt to escape accountability, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan chairman Teddy Casiño said.

Casiño led the filing of the complaint, which sought an ombudsman probe into Bersamin and Olaivar, who have been accused of being the President’s bagmen.

Cited in the complaint were fugitive Zaldy Co’s video statements and the affidavits of former public works undersecretary Roberto Bernardo, who is now a state witness.

The Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI), a fact-finding body tasked with probing the flood control scandal, will end its operations today.

Another complainant, David San Juan, said the ICI inquiry has been insufficient since no “big fish” has been prosecuted.

Civil forfeiture cases should be filed to recover ill-gotten wealth, especially amid the fuel crisis, he said.