MANILA, Philippines — Detained Sen. Jinggoy Estrada hit back at state witness former DPWH undersecretary Roberto Bernardo on Wednesday as he attended in person for the first time the Sandiganbayan Fifth Division hearing on his bail petition in a P573-million plunder case involving alleged kickbacks from flood control projects.
“He has already implicated so many people,” Estrada retorted after Bernardo told the court that he had found it difficult to implicate the senator because they were friends.
Bernardo faced questions from the anti-graft court justices and Estrada’s lawyer, Laurence Arroyo, about why he did not name the senator in his September 2025 affidavit. He later accused Estrada of receiving kickbacks in November 2025, with his latest judicial affidavit, dated October 26, 2026, putting the alleged amount at P573 million.
“During my first affidavit, I had no confirmation or solid evidence to prove his involvement. I already had him in mind as a proponent of projects, but I had to confirm it first,” Bernardo testified.
“It is difficult to implicate a friend. I could not bring myself to do that. There had to be evidence,” he added.
Bernardo said his earlier affidavit reserved his right to submit a supplemental affidavit if warranted, given the complexity of the case.
In his testimony, Bernardo alleged that the P573-million in kickbacks was delivered to Estrada in four installments from November 2024 to June 2025. He said he personally delivered money to the senator only in June 2025, accompanied by his driver.
“It was June of 2025 when I delivered it with my driver,” Bernardo said.
He also testified that the payments came in sealed boxes containing amounts in multiples of P20 million, citing information from fellow state witness Gerard Opulencia, a former DPWH regional director.
Bernardo further alleged that Estrada sought P1 billion in infrastructure allocations under the Senate leadership fund to cover election-related expenses. He told the court that the request was made over the phone, quoting the senator as saying, “Please help me with this because I still have many people to help during the elections.”
Outside the courtroom after the hearing, Estrada questioned Bernardo’s credibility and rejected the allegation that the witness had delivered money to him.
“I’m satisfied with the cross-examination by our lawyers. The witness has a lot of inconsistencies,” Estrada told reporters.
“He did not bring money to me,” he added.
Bernardo was originally Estrada’s co-accused in the case before the Sandiganbayan Fifth Division allowed prosecutors to discharge him so he could testify for the Office of the Ombudsman.
The hearing followed Tuesday’s testimony by former DPWH chief Manuel Bonoan, who said Bernardo had told him Estrada sought a P1-billion allocation from the leadership fund in the 2025 national budget. Bonoan also placed Estrada’s “congressional initiatives” at P7.4 billion.
Under questioning by Estrada’s lawyer, Bonoan acknowledged that Estrada had not personally approached him about the additional funding request and that the list of proposed projects did not bear the senator’s signature.
Estrada’s legal team earlier cited a March letter from the Senate’s Legislative Budget Research and Monitoring Office to the Ombudsman, which it said found no legislative records or official documents indicating that the senator had made insertions or amendments to the 2025 national budget concerning the DPWH.
