Engineer: Martin Romualdez not among kickback recipients

MANILA, Philippines — A public works engineer who admitted to collecting and counting alleged kickbacks from Bulacan flood control projects said on Tuesday that former House Speaker Martin Romualdez was not among the recipients.

Engineer John Carlo Rivera, who worked under former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) District Engineer Henry Alcantara, testified to this before the anti-graft court during Romualdez’s bail hearing over alleged kickbacks worth P7.44 billion.

READ: Staff: Alcantara got at least P5 billion kickbacks’ for delivery to proponents’

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During the cross-examination of Romualdez’s counsel, Ronald Solis, Rivera said Romualdez was not mentioned anywhere in his written judicial affidavit.

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Rivera also said he has not mentioned Romualdez in his previous testimonies before the Sandiganbayan. He testified before in the malversation case hearing of former Sen. Bong Revilla.

Rivera also confirmed that the alleged commitments he mentioned in his judicial affidavit were associated with projects in Bulacan, not Leyte, the province represented by Romualdez in Congress.

Rivera said around P35 billion worth of projects yielded around P5 billion in kickbacks. 

According to Rivera, the biggest amount of projects is at P14.190 billion in 2024, followed by P12.930 billion (2023), P7.385 billion (2025), and P519 million (2022).

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Rivera said the commitments from these Bulacan projects were allegedly delivered to proponents including former Ako Bicol Rep. Zaldy Co, also a co-accused in this plunder case; former DPWH Undersecretary Roberto Bernardo, Revilla, and Sen. Jinggoy Estrada.

Rivera said Alcantara relayed the identity of the proponents to him. /mr