ENGINEER Brice Ericson Hernandez, the former assistant district engineer of Bulacan’s First Engineering District, yesterday told the House Infrastructure Committee hearing that Senators Jinggoy Estrada and Joel Villanueva allegedly received at least 30 percent each in kickbacks from their flood control projects in the province.
Hernandez claimed that Estrada allegedly got a 30 percent commission out of his P355 million worth of projects in Bulacan this year, while Villanueva also got a 30 percent kickback out of a total of P600 million in flood control projects, mostly in his hometown Bocaue, in 2023.
Hernandez made the disclosures after his safety was assured by the House joint panel led by Rep. Terry Ridon (PL, Bicol Saro), who is the lead chairman of the joint panel.
The allegations against the two senators were made a day after contractors Cezarah Rowena “Sarah” Discaya and her husband, Pacifico “Curlee” II, named 17 congressmen, eight officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and a former government official as alleged recipients of “advance commissions” that they paid to get government projects.
The Discayas’ allegations were contained in their sworn joint affidavit that was submitted to the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee on Monday.
Hernandez said his former boss, District Engineer Henry Alcantara, and Public Works Undersecretary Roberto Bernardo are also involved in the kickbacks scheme.
Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon has dismissed both Hernandez and Alcantara from the DPWH.
Hernandez claimed Alcantara was the “chief implementer” who instructed DPWH staff to deliver the cash to the lawmakers.
“My boss said the commitment was to give 30 percent to Estrada and Villanueva,” said Hernandez in Filipino.
“Sen. Panfilo Lacson was right that DPWH engineers seem to have been reduced to being legmen or bagmen,” he also said, adding that it was not true that Estrada was “safe” from the controversy, referring to the statement that Sen. Rodante Marcoleta said in jest during the Blue Ribbon hearing last Monday when the Discayas said that they did not give any commissions to any senator.
SECURITY
Before identifying the two senators, Hernandez asked the infracomm, which is composed of the House Committees on Public Accounts, on Good Government and Public Accountability, and on Public Works, to secure him and his family “because I’m not just facing ordinary people here.”
He likewise appealed to House leaders not to return him to the Senate “because there are senators involved and I don’t know what fate awaits me when you return me there.”
Hernandez is currently under the custody of the Senate after he was cited in contempt by the Blue Ribbon Committee last Monday.
Ridon vowed to ensure the witness’ safety and “within the day will speak to our Senate counterparts to make sure you’ll remain in the House for as long as needed.”
Rep. Alfredo Garbin (PL, Ako Bicol) also assured Hernandez that “you will be protected by this committee as long as you will say the truth.”
The Office of the Senate Sergeant-at-Arms (OSAA) turned over Hernandez to the PNP Custodial Center at Camp Crame early yesterday evening.
The PNP Headquarters Support Service (HSS) said a van carrying Hernandez arrived at the facility at 6:08 p.m.
HSS chief of staff Col. Dominador Estrada said that hours earlier, OSAA personnel inspected the facility.
In a statement, Senate president Vicente Sotto III said Hernandez will be held at the PNP Custodial Center but will remain strictly under the supervision of the OSAA.
Sotto said the decision was reached in coordination with House Speaker Martin Romualdez, in recognition of the inter-parliamentary courtesy.
“To make sure he is safe but still in custody of the Senate, the Speaker and I agreed to place him in the PNP custodial center but under the supervision of the Senate OSAA,” he said.
FLOOD CONTROL PROJECTS
It was only after getting the congressmen’s assurance that Hernandez started identifying Estrada’s P355 million worth of projects, which includes the construction of flood mitigating structures with pumping stations and floodgates in Barangays Mercado and Iba in Hagonoy worth P60 million each; a P45 million project in Mambog Creek, Malolos; a P50 million project in Calero Creek, Malolos; a P60 million structure in Barangay Meyto, Calumpit; a P40 million project in Santo Rosario Creek, Malolos; and another P40 million project in Barangay Carillo, Hagonoy.
“Nagbaba po si Sen. Jinggoy at ang kanyang SOP dito ay 30 percent (Sen. Jinggoy downloaded projects and his SOP here is 30 percent) as per our District Engineer Henry Alcantara,” Hernandez said. “Dini-deliver ito nung lumabas ang mga item na ito sa GAA (It was delivered when these items came out in the General Appropriations Act).”
Hernandez also detailed Villanueva’s different flood control projects in Bulacan, worth a total of P600 million in 2023 projects, all for the construction of river flood mitigation structures in Balagtas and Bocaue. Each project is worth P75 million.
“In 2023, Sen. Joel Villanueva released P600 million in projects and the SOP is also 30 percent. The money was delivered to his residence in Bocaue by Alcantara and the chief of our construction, Engineer JP Mendoza,” he told the House panel in Filipino.
Hernandez said the P600 million fund was for the following: rehabilitation of flood control structure along Balagtas River in Brgy. Panginay, Phase III in Balagtas; construction of Bocaue River flood mitigation structure at Station 12, +589 to Station 12, +739 in Brgy. Bambang, Bocaue; construction of Bocaue River flood mitigation structure at Station 4, +204 to Station 4, +354 in Brgy. Turo, Bocaue; construction of Bocaue River flood mitigation structure at Station 3, +036 to Station 3, +236 in Brgy. Kaingin, Bocaue; construction of Bocaue River flood mitigation structure at Station 5, +466 to Station 5, +667 in Brgy. Bunlo, Bocaue; construction of Balagtas River flood mitigation structure at Station 3, +533 to Station 3, +683 in Brgy. Santol, Balagtas; construction of Balagtas River flood mitigation structure at Station 7, +654 to Station 7, +804 at Brgy. Dalig, Balagtas; and construction of Balagtas River flood mitigation structure at Station 14, +124 to Station 14 + 274 at Brgy. San Juan, Balagtas.
Hernandez said Alcantara took at least three percent from all projects that passed through the district office and demanded an additional 2 percent “finder’s fee” from contractors who are seeking additional projects.
PILES OF CASH
Alcantara denied that he ever gave grease money to Estrada and Villanueva. He also denied his supposed closeness to Estrada, although he admitted that he used to be an employee of the Manila City Hall when the senator’s father, former president Joseph Estrada, was mayor.
To rebut Alcantara’s denial, Hernandez showed congressmen a photo of Estrada and Alcantara taken during the senator’s birthday party at the Solaire Resort Hotel, to which Alcantara said he just tagged along with other city hall employees in attending the party.
“To be honest, Your Honor, I do not know when this picture was taken but I’m just trying to show that Mr. Alcantara, Engineer Henry Alcantara and Sen. Jinggoy Estrada have met a couple of times already,” Hernandez said. “They appear super close, Your Honor.”
Hernandez then presented photos of piles of cash on a table with Alcantara in the background, saying the money were set for distribution to what Alcantara called “project proponents.”
“Your Honor, I don’t know who the money was for. We were just ordered to prepare them. ‘This certain amount, prepare it, we’ll give it to someone,” he said.
He said the photos of the cash, which was flashed on a big screen during the hearing, were not taken at the district engineering office but at a nearby private residence, where their group used to hang out.
VIBER MESSAGES
Hernandez also presented screenshots of an alleged Viber conversation between Alcantara and a certain “Sen. Joel,” which, he said, were taken by Mendoza using another phone since the texts that Villanueva sent were “disappearing messages.”
Before he testified, Mendoza also asked the committee for security after allegedly receiving death threats, saying he received the threats were sent to his mobile phone last September 1 and another one while he was testifying before the House panel.
“Last Sept. 1, someone messaged me on Viber, nicknamed ‘Hitman.’ Then, now, before I spoke, he was calling me again,” he said in Filipino, to which Ridon said: “It is something the committee is taking seriously. We will discuss it as soon as we end this meeting.”
Mendoza then confirmed that the Viber messages were from Villanueva. He said the photos were taken in October 2023 and showed the senator complaining of his small flood control budget and requesting additional allocations from the DPWH through Alcantara.
At that time, then Public Works Secretary Manuel Bonoan was yet to be confirmed by the Commission on Appointments (CA), which Villanueva was a member of.
“The summary of these messages are: Sen. Joel was saying that his funds were small, that he was the majority floor leader and that he was a member of the CA,” Mendoza said.
In the Viber messages, “Sen. Joel” said: “Again, naguguluhan ako bigla kay Sec. Parang nakalimutan ba niya? Number one, prob sa flood control and all the efforts we put in. Number two, for his CA, his budget this coming year, etc. He committed sa akin, pinaka-mababang commitment ng DPWH Secretary (Again, I’m confused by Sec’s actions, he seems to have forgotten. Number one, the problem with flood control and all the efforts we put in. Number two, for his CA, his budget this coming year, etc. He committed to me, but I got the lowest commitment from the DPWH Secretary).”
“Ngayon, parang lumalabas, same na ang 1 and 2 (Now it seems that 1 and 2 are the just same),” the message also read.
The senator also pointed to his Senate position.
“Majority leader tayo, hindi Cong or just 1 CA member (I’m a majority leader, not just some congressman or a CA member),” the message said.
Hernandez said Alcantara allegedly vowed to follow up the requests to Bonoan and meet with the senator at the school owned by the Jesus is Lord (JIL) Church which is founded by Villanueva’s father, Bro. Eddie Villanueva.
‘SELECTIVE AMNESIA’
During the hearing, Curlee Discaya flip-flopped and eventually stonewalled when pressed to identify the senators who were kept out of his list of lawmakers who allegedly accepted hefty commissions from their flood control projects.
This prompted administration lawmakers like Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro of Batangas and Deputy Speaker Janette Garin to accuse Curlee of “selective amnesia.”
Curlee initially invoked his right against self-incrimination when Rep. Leila de Lima and Ridon pressed him to say if senators were also involved in the scheme.
De Lima pounced on Discaya’s affidavit because he used the phrase “ilan sa kanila ay sina (some of them)” to refer to lawmakers involved, which she said suggested that there are others excluded from the list.
“Those you didn’t name, are they members of the House or the Senate?” she asked.
Curlee invoked his “rights.” “I’m not yet sure as to the documents about the others who could be mentioned,” he said in Filipino.
De Lima said she does not understand which specific right Curlee was invoking. “You are not invoking your right to self-incrimination, right?” said the former senator.
It was then that Discaya requested that an executive session be held, which was opposed by De Lima, saying he should be able to say the names in the same way he did before the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee. “That was in open and public proceedings,” she said.
“I do not understand why you’re asking for an executive session here in front of the members of the committee of the House of Representatives,” she said.
When asked again if he still intended to name names during the hearing, Discaya said: “No , your honor. None.”
Curlee apologized, saying he made a mistake when he asked for an executive session because he could not understand what was being asked. He however admitted that he is afraid for his life after naming lawmakers the other day.
He also denied that someone was assisting him when he made his presentation to the Senate, saying no one is behind orchestrating his actions since he did it on his own, including his sworn statement which was only reviewed by his legal counsel.
He said he requested for an executive session because he saw resource persons in congressional inquiries doing the same thing, a claim which lawmakers also found flimsy.
“No one told me to ask for an executive session. I only saw such kind of answers on YouTube,” he told De Lima.
Curlee said not all lawmakers he named personally accepted kickbacks because some of them like Pasig Rep. Roman Romulo, allegedly got their commissions through their staff.
Luistro said Curlee was obviously withholding names of officials who got kickbacks during the previous administrations since the Discayas only identified those who are allegedly involved in recent years.
Luistro reminded Curlee that testimonies made under oath require full disclosure and that his refusal to name names from 2016 to 2022 would cast a “strong doubt” on the credibility of his affidavit, which only covered personalities from 2023 to 2024 under the Marcos administration.
“There is an admission already from the resource person that even during the past administration there were those who demanded commissions.However, it appears that he refuse to disclose the names unlike the way he did in his affidavit when he identified the alleged lawmakers and DPWH officials,” said the lawyer-lawmaker.
Luistro noted that the Discaya Group of Construction Companies cornered P12 billion worth of contracts during the Duterte years, leading contractors with the biggest awarded projects nationwide.
“Did Mr. Discaya have selective amnesia?” she said. “It seems he totally forgot already about the people who might have asked for the same requirement as well during the past administration when he ranked number one with regard to the biggest awarded contract among the contractors in the entire country.”
Sen. Risa Hontiveros shared Luistro’s position saying the Discayas should present the whole picture with regards the kickbacks issue.
“They should give us the complete story. I’m sure it didn’t escape your attention that they spoke only of periods 2022 until this year 2025. What happened in 2026 to 2022? Because Sarah Discaya admitted in an earlier hearing that they began receiving big national projects and therefore also buying luxury behicles etc, in year 2026.So, there’s still a big gap. They have to pedal back to the years prior 2022,” Hontiveros said in Filipino in an interview with Bilyonaryo News Channel.
She said the Discayas’ sworn statement is a good start in telling all what they knew about anomalous government projects but they should be backed with solid evidence to make their testimonies more credible.
She said this is also crucial if the couple would want to qualify in the Witness Protection Program.
“Without any hard proof? If that’s what it will look like, their affidavit until the end, then practically nothing. But an affidavit, a sworn affidavit, is still a potentially important first step. They have to back it up. It cannot be that they just admit them and identify people. They have to show the evidence or present corroborating witnesses to the revelations they made yesterday against each and every one of those named individuals,” she said.
SPEAKER CLEARED
After naming Speaker Martin Romualdez in his Senate testimony, Curlee told congressmen that he never had any direct transaction with the House leader, saying his testimony was based on hearsay since lawmakers have been name-dropping him.
“Maybe politicians are just using your name,” he said in his opening statement, addressing Romualdez.
“I deemed it best to let the Speaker and Zaldy Co know that I have no direct transactions with you,” he said, adding: “I only heard it from politicians who are forcing and rushing me to give my obligation which they claim they’ll bring to you. But transactions with them (Romualdez and Co, none,” he said.
Curlee said he and his wife Sarah were pressured to name congressmen because of the public outrage they have been drawing.
“Our name has been tremendously tarnished, we’re like thieves. That’s why we’re forced, pressured because the people want to kill us,” he said.
Curlee said Sarah could not attend the hearing because “her heart was palpitating.”
‘LIARS’
Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto, a political rival of the Discayas, told the panel that the Discayas are “liars.”
“You (lawmakers) used the term inconsistencies, but I would like to be more direct. Lies and outright lies are what they’re saying),” he told the panel.
Sotto said the Discayas’ St. Gerrard Construction, which was among the Top 15 contractors accused of having ghost and substandard flood control projects by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. was practically turned into a political party by its owners in the May elections.
“What I can say is that they have nine construction firms that we have seen now in the news…. of the spouses Discaya where they have used dummies, where they have become huge contractors and all of these nine companies are based in Pasig,” he said, adding almost all of the firms have pending tax deficiencies.
The Pasig mayor said the Discayas are obviously muddling the issue to create chaos by pointing to as many congressmen as they can so they can hide the truth.
“All of us here in the room know that there are guilty senators, congressmen and DOPWH officials and contractors of other agencies but at this point, they’re not only dropping names, they also want to muddle the story, they want to confuse us,” he said in Filipino.
“I think we really have to be careful because in our experience with them, in my experience with them Mr. Chair, these are people who are really capable of lying without batting an eyelash. We have to be very careful,” Sotto added.
SOLID EVIDENCE
Sen. Panfilo Lacson, the new chairman of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, said he will require resource persons making accusations against any one to back them up with solid evidence, as he will not rely on mere say-so.
Lacson said this approach will apply to the claims of the Discayas.
“First of all, I will look for receipt. I will not rely on the say-so of other hook, line, and sinker. I my privilege speeches, I do not rely on mere reports or testimonies. Instead, I ask myself what evidence do I have to support what will I say?” Lacson said in Filipino in an interview with radio dzBB.
To ensure fairness, he said the Blue Ribbon Committee investigation will be on the lookout against “selective” testimonies from the Discayas and other resource persons, adding that he will start with the inquiry where the previous committee hearings left off.
Lacson said he will also scrutinize the supposed ledgers and vouchers of the Discayas where the amounts given to lawmakers, their emissaries, and DPWH officials were supposedly recorded.
He also said he does not see any conflict with the Senate investigation and the probe to be conducted by the independent commission being created by the President since the Senate probe is in aid of legislation.
He said he will furnish the commission with documents gathered during the Senate hearings to help in the prosecution of those who will be found liable.
The President said it is still too early to conclude the alleged involvement of congressmen and senators in the flood control projects controversy.
“We cannot come into any conclusions now,” he said during a media interview in Cambodia before returning to Manila, when sought for comment on the Discaya allegations. –With Raymond Africa and Jocelyn Reyes
