Former senator Bong Revilla, Jr. is now the only national-level lawmaker facing a formal plunder referral in the flood-control scandal after the Independent Commission for Infrastructure said the evidence against him is specific, complete, and ready for prosecution.
The commission relied on the sworn affidavit of former Department of Public Works and Highways undersecretary Roberto Bernardo, who said he received a list of projects for Revilla and that Revilla “asked for twenty-five percent.”
Bernardo said district engineer Henry Alcantara collected the amount, turned it over to him, and that he “delivered it to Senator Revilla’s house in Cavite.” ICI chair Andres Reyes Jr. said the commission is recommending the filing of “plunder, indirect bribery, and corruption of public officials” against Revilla based on the details in the testimony and the corroborating documents available to the panel.
Bernardo further claimed that part of the money he turned over was intended to support Revilla’s political activities. In his sworn account before the Senate, he said the funds were framed to him as “para sa kampanya ni Senator Revilla” and were treated as part of the expected cut tied to the projects. Alcantara also testified that collections he made for Revilla were described as commitments relevant to the senator’s political operations.
While Bong Revilla did not win in the last election cycle, his wife Lani Mercado-Revilla sits in Congress as the Representative of Cavite’s 2nd District. His son Jolo Revilla serves as the Representative of Cavite’s 1st District, and another son, Bryan Revilla, holds a seat as a House member under the Agimat party-list.
These developments surrounding Revilla stand in contrast to the treatment of other senators whose names surfaced in testimony but who were not included in the charge list.
The commission drew a clear line between charge-ready evidence and allegations that still require confirmation. Senators Chiz Escudero and Grace Poe and Education Secretary Sonny Angara were mentioned in sworn testimony, but investigators said the accusations involving them are not yet supported by a full chain of verifiable proof.
Bernardo’s affidavit mentioned Escudero through campaign donor Maynard Ngu. He alleged that Ngu received “twenty percent of the eight hundred million pesos” in projects supposedly meant for Escudero. Bernardo also said he “never interacted with Senator Escudero directly.” ICI did not include Escudero in the charge list and instead referred him for further investigation, saying they need additional testimony and material corroboration.
As Senate President, Escudero signed subpoenas for contractors and DPWH executives who failed to appear before the Senate during the flood-control inquiry.
Escudero has been on the receiving end of a public backlash for a series of attempts to link him to the flood control scandal. He is facing an ethics complaint filed by lawyer and publisher Eldrige Marvin Aceron, who accused him of benefiting from his connection to Centerways Construction and Development Inc. president Lawrence Lubiano, the government contractor whose ₱30-million contribution became Escudero’s largest donation in the 2022 campaign.
Escudero dismissed the complaint as politically motivated, saying it was part of the retaliation for naming former House Speaker Martin Romualdez to the scandal. “Hindi ko na ito ikinagulat. Ito ang kabayaran sa pagbanggit ko sa pangalan ni Martin Romualdez at sa pagbubunyag sa katotohanan. This is just part of the harassment from his minions. This isn’t about ethics. This is political retribution,” he said.
He added that the complaint was “bahagi pa rin ng script at desperadong paraan para itago ang katotohanan” and vowed to expose what he called a “politically motivated sham.”
In his privilege speech on September 29, Escudero accused Romualdez of orchestrating a “script and sarsuwela” intended to divert public outrage over anomalous flood-control projects and to cast senators as scapegoats. “Me? I will not side with Martin Romualdez. That’s why I will oppose him and all his deceptions,” he said, warning the Senate against being “used and manipulated” amid what he described as the weaponization of justice.
Escudero alleged that Romualdez had been directing detained DPWH officials to name-drop senators while sparing congressmen implicated in the same testimonies, citing the under-oath statement of Master Sgt. Orly Regala Guteza, who testified that he personally delivered “35 suitcases containing ₱1.7 billion” to Romualdez’s residence.
He questioned in the speech why no investigation or freeze order had been issued against Romualdez or other House members, arguing that senators faced immediate scrutiny while congressmen, aside from Rep. Zaldy Co, appeared untouched.
The Commission on Elections has cleared Escudero and Lubiano in the separate investigation into the ₱30-million contribution. COMELEC’s Political Finance and Affairs Department found “no evidence” of any election offense and ruled that Lubiano made the contribution “in his personal capacity,” noting that “Mr. Lubiano is not Centerways, and Centerways is not Mr. Lubiano.”
The department acknowledged that Centerways Construction held active government contracts, including flood-control projects overlapping with the 2022 campaign period, but said it found no basis to treat Lubiano as an instrumentality of the corporation under Section 95(c) of the Omnibus Election Code. The poll body ordered the termination of the case after concluding that the evidence did not establish fraud, bad faith, or any prohibited act.
Meanwhile, Bernardo’s allegation involving Grace Poe centered on claims that her staff member JY Dela Rosa coordinated with him and that “Mrs. Patron” collected twenty percent from one of his aides at Diamond Hotel. Poe said there is “no evidence” she engaged in any wrongdoing and said she welcomes scrutiny. ICI agreed that the statements on record require further verification. Poe was formally referred for “further investigative review and case build-up.”
Angara was also named in Bernardo’s statements through indirect references involving a former staff member. Bernardo said the staffer managed “shares of twelve percent” during a period when he worked under Angara as Senate finance chair. Angara rejected the claim and said he has “never been involved in corruption in more than twenty years in public service.” ICI did not include Angara in its list of individuals recommended for charges and did not include him in its list of persons referred for continued investigative review.
Justice Andres Reyes Jr. explained the commission’s decision by saying they need “more witnesses such as drivers, house help, secretaries, accountants” to determine the truth behind the remaining allegations. This distinction places Revilla alone in the category where the commission believes the evidence meets the standard for prosecution while Escudero, Poe, and Angara remain subjects of uncorroborated claims that investigators have not treated as charge-ready.
