Co staff signed receipts for kickback deliveries – witness

Acknowledgement receipts (ARs) were signed whenever the staff of former congressman Zaldy Co received deliveries of contractor commitment fees from former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) District Engineer Henry Alcantara, a witness said.

Wirt Walter Rosales, a personal assistant of Alcantara, said that the ARs were meant to certify that he had completed the deliveries assigned to him to the alleged residences of Co.

The documents allegedly contained the amount of the kickback that the former congressman was set to receive, while a separate paper which was left to the latter’s staff had information on the name of the project, the appropriations, and the percentage of the commission.

The witness also stated that former DPWH project engineer Carlo Rivera assisted him when it came to the ARs, concerned with inputting the information contained in the document and printing the same on a bond paper.

Rosales would note, however, that he no longer had copies of the receipts as he would rip apart the documents upon the instructions of Alcantara.

Asked about the largest amount that he had seen on a single receipt by Associate Justice Ronald Moreno, Rosales said that there was one instance that he had seen P300-million.

The witness further estimated that the collective amount that he had brought to Co had already exceeded P1-billion, with a total of 11 deliveries between 2022 to 2024.

Rosales noted that Co’s executive assistants John Paul Estrada and Mark Tecsay would personally count the bundles of cash that were within the containers that he used to deliver the kickbacks.

Similar to a previous testimony from alleged Co bagman Rodante Orbillo, he pointed that the kickbacks were initially delivered in duraboxes before switching to suitcases in subsequent shipments.

‘Secret room’

During the questioning of Associate Justice Karl Miranda, the witness would disclose further details on the supposed “secret room” where the commitment fees that came from contractors were stored and counted.

Rosales said that only Alcantara, Rivera, and himself knew about the room within the DPWH Bulacan 1st District Engineering Office.

There, he detailed how they would count bundles of cash before transferring the amounts to the duraboxes and suitcases that would be used for the deliveries.

The witness even stated that there were times that they would leave the cash overnight, noting how even the janitors of the facility could not enter the room.

Rosales became the 11th witness that prosecutors called to the stand in the bail hearing of former House Speaker Martin Romualdez for the case of plunder over his alleged amassing of P7.4-billion in ill-gotten wealth from infrastructure projects.

Despite the non-bailable nature of plunder, individuals accused of the crime are granted the ability to file a petition of their bail to prove that the evidence against them was not strong.

Romualdez is currently detained at the New Quezon City Jail - Male Dormitory.

Stay informed

Get Daily Tribune in your inbox

Breaking news, opinion, and business coverage for readers in the Philippines and abroad.

Or open the newsletter page. Prefer chat? Join the Viber community.