Did Roberto Bernardo spill it all?

He spilled the beans alright, and in one big breath the floodgates of corruption swung even wider.

We welcome the move of retired Department of Public Works and Highways undersecretary Roberto Bernardo to finally face the Senate Blue Ribbon committee’s inquiry on this blood-boiling flood control mess.

It must have taken courage to throw old friends under the bus with conversations so vivid, you almost feel you were inside the swanky Cork, a glass of Malbec or Cabernet in hand, eavesdropping on a brewing deal.

But with 40 years of experience at the DPWH, Bernardo must surely know so much more. Did he reveal all that he knew in his affidavits? Some questions remain and I hope he musters the courage to narrate everything he knows.

As the DPWH undersecretary for operations, Bernardo may well be considered the center of gravity for public infrastructure projects.

Under oath, he denied knowing about the 20-20-20-40 kickback scheme of his DPWH boys, Henry Alcantara et al. He also denied knowledge of the ghost flood control projects. Some industry sources find this hard to believe. True or not, only a more exhaustive testimony and a deeper investigation can ferret out the truth.

Nonetheless, Bernardo admitted delivering multimillion-peso payoffs to people in high places, including businessman Maynard Ngu, allegedly the bagman of erstwhile Senate president Chiz Escudero.

Bernardo is crucial to this investigation and he holds the key to pointing out the who’s who in this systematic and institutionalized corruption of infrastructure projects in DPWH and Congress. In short, he is the missing link between the DPWH and the lawmakers and everyone else who benefited from this grand thievery of public funds.

As we now see, corruption in DPWH runs like a well-oiled machine, and as someone with four decades of experience at the disgraced department, Bernardo must have heard, seen or known more of these dealings.

For now, we welcome the jaw-dropping revelations as stated in his affidavits. Some of these are:

“I delivered 20 percent of approximately P800 million or about P160 million to Maynard Ngu which was meant for Senator Escudero.

“Sometime in 2023, Maynard Ngu told me to go to Cork and meet with Sen. Chiz Escudero, which I did. I met with the latter in a private room at the said establishment. While we were drinking wine, he told me: ‘Alam ko naman ang galawan niyo diyan sa DPWH. OK naman ako. Sabihin mo kay Sec. (Manuel Bonoan) magbaba sa akin.’

“Engr. Alcantara told me that Cong. Zaldy Co was asking for a 25 percent commission and of that amount, two percent was to be shared equally between Engr. Alcantara and myself.

“Furthermore, Engr. Alcantara would tell me every time that he made deliveries of cash to Cong. Zaldy Co in compliance with his commitment to Cong. Zaldy Co.

“I confirm that (COA) Commissioner Mario Lipana requested that he be referred to officers of DPWH Bulacan 1st DEO (district engineering office).

“Sometime in the year 2024, Senator (Bong) Revilla and I met where I gave him a list of projects given to me by Engr. Alcantara. Senator Revilla asked for a commitment which I suggested and he then approved at 25 percent of the total amount of the projects indicated in this list hereto attached as Annex ‘C.’”

Bernardo also mentioned DepEd undersecretary Trygve Olaivar and the Office of the Executive Secretary, and former senator and now Makati Mayor Nancy Binay.

These are damning revelations for sure and it’s a good start. Most of all, it’s an eerie reflection of how well-entrenched corruption is in our system.

But as I said, it’s hard to believe this is all that Bernardo knows. I hope he continues to speak out and name more people in this robbery of state coffers, especially our elected officials. The public deserves to know. After all, it’s the Filipino taxpayers’ money.

As for corruption in DPWH, Secretary Vince Dizon needs to do more than conducting field trips and filing cases although that’s the starting line. But he is racing against time and needs to do so much more to fix the system of leakages and overpricing. Even if he removes all the DPWH engineers and the regional directors – “kahit maubos sila,” as he said – if the system remains rotten, the department will remain ground zero for corruption.

Chinese businessmen attest to overpricing

During a recent lunch with top officials of the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry Inc., no less than FFCCCII executive vice president Jeffrey Ng said that DPWH projects cost twice the amount of the actual cost of a structure.

FFCCCII, led by president Victor Lim, is familiar with this because it regularly donates classrooms and school buildings.

Lim said that through their flagship program, Operation: Barrio Schools, which started in 1961, FFCCCII has already constructed and turned over more than 6,500 school buildings, equivalent to more than 13,000 classrooms, to public schools across the country.

‘Cancer of corruption’

The chamber likewise called on the government, private sector and every citizen to confront the cancer of corruption eroding our nation’s foundation.

They called for sweeping systemic reforms including ruthless accountability. This means holding the guilty to account, however powerful he or she may be.

And here lies the question that lingers. Did Bernardo truly spill everything or did he skip naming the most powerful of them all?

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Email: [email protected]. Follow her on X @eyesgonzales. Column archives at EyesWideOpen on FB.