Former Bulacan assistant district engineer Brice Ericson Hernandez produced before the House Infrastructure Committee (infra comm) "photo evidence" that would allegedly tie Senators Jinggoy Estrada and Joel Villanueva to the flood control projects controversy.

Hernandez--a detained witness from the Senate--did so on Tuesday afternoon, Sept. 9 as congressmen continued their investigation with the special three-way panel.

According to Hernandez, Estrada and Villanueva allegedly benefited from P955 million worth of Bulacan flood control projects through a 30 percent “SOP” or standard operating procedure--a euphemism for commissions or kickbacks.

To substantiate his claim, Hernandez showed a photo of Estrada with dismissed DPWH Bulacan district engineer Henry Alcantara that was taken during Estrada’s birthday party at the Solaire Resort Hotel.

“To be honest, Your Honor, I do not know when this picture was taken but I’m just trying to show that Mr. Alcantara, Engineer Henry Alcantara and Senator Jinggoy Estrada have met a couple of times already,” Hernandez told the panel.

When asked if the two appeared close, he answered, “They appear super close, your honor.”

Hernandez--cited for contempt by the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee just a day earlier--also presented to the infra comm photos showing stacks of cash, which he said were being prepared for distribution.

The ex-assistant engineer admitted to taking a least one of the photos himself out of excitement; he claimed it was the first time in his life that he ever saw that amount of money in front of him.

“Basta kami inutusan nilang ayusin ang mga pera. Itong amount na ito para sa ganito, ‘Ihanda mo dyan, may pagbibigyan niyan.’ Ganoon lang, sine-segregate namin ang mga pera,” Hernandez said.

(We were simply instructed to handle the money. This amount is for this purpose, ‘Prepare it there, someone will receive it.’ That’s it, we just segregated the funds.)

“As far as my knowledge is concerned, ibibigay po ‘yan sa tao. ‘Yung tinatawag na proponent na kausap niya (As far as my knowledge is concerned, that money was to be given to a person. The one referred to as the proponent he was talking to),” he added.

Asked who the intended recipients were, Hernandez said he could no longer recall since the photos were taken years ago.

But he did clarify that the photos of cold cash were not taken at the district engineering office but at a nearby private residence that had been converted into a "hangout area".

Hernandez also showed to the infra comm photos of a Viber conversation that allegedly implicated Villanueva to anomalous flood control projects. He said these were photos of Viber messages pre-set to disappear within a few seconds; they cannot be screenshot.

Engineer JP Mendoza, a Department of Public Works Highway (DPWH) official, confirmed the authenticity of the images and said the “Sen. Joel” mentioned in the chat referred to Villanueva.

Mendoza read the conversation into the record after first asking the infra comm to guarantee his safety. The joint panel answered in the affirmative.

The DPWH official said the photos were taken in October 2023 and showed Villanueva requesting allocations for the flood control projects Hernandez had earlier identified in the hearing.

“Sir, yung picture po na ‘yan ay noong October 2023 na kung saan nagre-request po si Sen. Joel na ‘yung mga binasa po ni Engineer Bryce ng flood control kanina (Sir, that photo was taken in October 2023, when Senator Joel was requesting the flood control items that Engineer Bryce read earlier),” Mendoza said.

“Parang sa summary po na ‘yan na sinasabing ni Senator Joel na mababa lang ‘yung kanyang pondo subalit siya ang [Senate] majority floor leader at member siya ng Commission on Appointments," he further said.

(It’s from the summary where Senator Joel was saying that his funding was small, even though he is the Senate majority floor leader and a member of the Commission on Appointments.)

He added that the Viber messages--addressed to Alcantara--also mentioned a “Sec,” identified as then-DPWH secretary Manuel Bonoan.