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State witness Sally Santos of Syms Construction on Wednesday testified that she delivered P1.72 billion to former Bulacan Assistant District Engineer Brice Hernandez for 42 infrastructure projects contracted to her construction firm.
Santos made the testimony during the bail hearing of Hernandez, former senator Ramon Bong Revilla, Jr. and their other co-accused in the malversation case concerning the alleged P92.8 million ghost flood control project in Pandi, Bulacan.
“Iyon po ang eksaktong dineliver ko po (That’s the exact amount I delivered),” Santos told the Sandiganbayan Third Division.
Sandiganbayan Associate Justice Ronald Moreno then asked Santos: “P1.72 billion ang dineliver mo kay Brice Hernandez (You delivered P1.72 billion to Brice Hernandez)?”.
To which Santos replied, “Yes.”
Santos then told the anti-graft court that the government paid P1.8 billion to Syms for the 42 projects, but Hernandez only got P1.72 billion because the rest of the amount went to her as “royalty fee” since she allows other construction firms to borrow Syms’ license.
The contractor said this was done so that in the event that Syms wins a government project on paper, the project implementation will not be executed by Syms, but by the construction firm that borrowed Syms’ license.
Batches of cash
Santos said she delivered the money to Hernandez in batches, not in one go.
The highest amount that she delivered to Hernandez in one go, on the other hand, was more than P400 million.
“Meron po akong napadala na P400 million plus (I have sent P400 million plus),” Santos said.
Santos also said that it took her five hours to withdraw the said P400 million from a branch of the state-run Landbank because she called the bank ahead of her visit to alert them that she is about to withdraw the huge amount.
“Siguro po, mga limang oras po (I think it took me five hours to withdraw the money),” she said.
Moreno also pressed Santos if she believes that the P1.72 billion is indeed only for Hernandez.
Santos said she could not say if such amount is really for Hernandez alone, saying the latter was her contact. —AOL, GMA News
