Lawyer of Brice Hernandez Speaks on Six Senators Who Be Linked to Flood Control Issue — ‘Escudero Unlikely To Be One of Them’
Six senators may be implicated in the flood control scam by the computer of dismissed Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Engineer Brice Hernandez as to his lawyer.
Countless Filipinos were left disappointed that some government officials as well as officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) are allegedly involved in the flood control mess. There are some senators and congressmen accused of allegedly receiving kickbacks from the flood control projects.
According to dismissed DPWH Engr. Brice Hernandez who admitted to being involved in the flood control corruption, senators Jinggoy Estrada and Joel Villanueva are allegedly receiving kickbacks from the flood control projects. Both senators denied the accusation against them.
Senators Jinggoy Estrada and Joel Villanueva also claimed that they are willing to have their bank accounts opened. The two senators are among those government officials that the National Bureau of Investigation or NBI suggested filing a case against over the flood control issue.
Brice Hernandez is currently in the custody of the Senate. It was during a flood probe in the House of Representatives when he made the accusation against Estrada and Villanueva. He also pinned down his boss, former DPWH Bulacan District Engr. Henry Alcantara.
Last Saturday, Brice Hernandez was allowed by Senate Pres. Tito Sotto to leave the Senate premises and gather evidence that could back his claims in the flood control issue. Based on a report on Inquirer, his lawyer, Atty. Raymond Fortun, claimed that six senators may be implicated in the flood control mess by the computer of his client.
According to Atty. Fortun, Hernandez told him that “there are more in that computer”, thus, the list of people who may be linked to the flood control issue may really be longer aside from the six senators. The lawyer also claimed that out of the six senators, two (2) of them are former lawmakers.
Based on the report, the lawyer of Brice Hernandez claimed that former Senate Pres. Chiz Escudero is unlikely to be implicated in the flood control mess by the evidence of his client. According to him, the former Senate President allegedly has no budget insertion in the evidence held by his client.
“Someone asked me why Chiz is not included, and my answer to that is, I am almost sure, probably Chiz will not be mentioned simply because Senator Escudero has no insertion there. I am not saying that he has no insertion somewhere else,” Fortun said.
Amid the issue, the Senate had a shakeup. Escudero was ousted from the Senate presidency and was replaced by Sotto after he admitted that he received a P30-million campaign donation from one of the flood control contractors. The contractor linked to former Senate Pres. Chiz Escudero claimed that the P30-million campaign donation was his own money.