A controversial contractor accused of delivering kickbacks to some senators has admitted to visiting the office of Senator Erwin Tulfo.

Mina Elamparo-Jose, of the WJ Construction, admitted that she visited Tulfo’s office last Aug. 19, 2025 but not for any project related to flood control, but for an office refurbishment.

Former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) assistant district engineer Brice Hernandez had testified in a House committee hearing on the same issue, that it was Jose who delivered the “obligation” to members of the Senate.

But in a Senate blue ribbon panel hearing on Thursday, September 18, senators pressed Jose to disclose why she was seen in the Senate premises on August 19.

Jose admitted then that she was in the Senate because she was invited to do an ocular of the senator’s office.

“Meron po kasing problem yung office ni Sen. Erwin na binabaha po siya lalo po pag umuulan. So ako po yung na-refer na contractor ng staff niya na kung pwede po tingnan namin gawa ng solusyon and mag-suggest po kami sa kanya (Sen. Erwin’s office has a problem because it sometimes get flooded when it rains. So I was the contractor referred to by one of his staff, who asked if I can check it and if we can find a solution and make suggestions to him),” Jose said when asked by Sen. Jinggoy Estrada.

Jose also admitted to visiting Beng Ramos, a staff who is supposedly assigned to the Blue Ribbon Oversight Office Management (BROOM).

In one of his testimony, Hernandez linked Ramos as a staff of Estrada. But Ramos is employed under the Office of the Senate Secretary, under the BROOM.

Ramos was not present during the hearing; according to Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson, chairman of the blue ribbon panel, said they had to excuse her out of humanitarian reasons because she is dealing with Stage 4 cancer.

In her testimony, Jose said she not only wanted to clear her name, and that of the WJ Construction but also “personalities who have been unfairly dragged in the controversy.”

“I wish to clear the state first that, to the best of my knowledge, Beng Ramos is not and have never been a staff of Senator Jinggoy Strada or any senator or congressman. I have known her only as a staff of the Blue Ribbon Committee, particularly the BROOM,” Jose said.

“And as far as I know, Beng is a dedicated government employee who has never been involved in any controversy, especially in this anomalous flood control projects that (ex-DPWH assistant district engineer) Brice mentioned in the Congressional hearings. And as for myself, I speak from the depth of my heart that I have never engaged in any illegal activity,” she said.

“I have never given nor received any money from any public official or government employee, including this Mr. Brice Hernandez. Thus, I strongly deny his accusations, the baseless and malicious accusations he threw against me and WJ Construction during the Congressional hearing. WJ Construction, which my partner and I have devoted decades of honest work to build, has always stood on the strength of its good reputation. We have completed numerous private and government projects, no ghost projects, no substandards. Our clients can attest to the quality of the work and the integrity with which we conduct ourselves,” added Jose, who was emotional during her testimony.

Jose insisted that when she visited the Senate, she was just visiting her friend Ramos, whom she knew has been suffering from cancer.

“My apologies, Your Honor, if that appeared that way. It was just my intention to see my friend, especially when I heard that Beng is suffering from cancer and I haven't seen her in a long time. So I thought it was an opportunity for me to also visit her,” she said replying to a question by Tulfo.