Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin has denied allegations that his office received a 15 percent cut from billions worth of infrastructure projects.

Bersamin said this after former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) undersecretary Roberto Bernardo alleged that Education Undersecretary Trygve Olaivar summoned him to a meeting to discuss “Unprogrammed Appropriations supposedly for the Office of the Executive Secretary (OES).”

In a statement on Thursday, Sept. 25, Bersamin said the claims were not true.

“I deny the imputation contained in the sworn statement of DPWH Undersecretary Bernardo submitted to the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee about the delivery of ‘agreed 15 percent commitment’ supposedly for the Office of the Executive Secretary,” he said.

“The imputation is not true,” he added.

The former Chief Justice stressed that the OES has no role in budget allocations involving DPWH and no dealings with Bernardo or Olaivar.

“In the first place, the OES has no involvement in any way with budgetary allocations relevant to the DPWH. In the second place, the OES has no dealings whatsoever with either Undersecretary Bernardo or DepEd Undersecretary Trygve Olaivar,” he said.

“I stand by my untarnished record as a long-serving public servant, first as a career judicial officer and now as the Executive Secretary,” he added.

In a sworn affidavit, Bernardo alleged that in 2024, Olaivar summoned him to a meeting to discuss unprogrammed appropriations “supposedly for the OES.”

“In the said meeting, he requested me to submit a list of projects,” Bernardo said.

He further claimed that DPWH’s Bulacan 1st District Engineering Office prepared a P2.85-billion project list, which he handed to Olaivar. At that point, he said Olaivar told him: “Boss, kinse ‘yan.”

Bernardo alleged that following the issuance of a Special Allotment Release Order (SARO), the 15 percent commission was collected by district engineers and later delivered to Olaivar in different locations.

Olaivar has also denied the accusation and announced that he would voluntarily go on leave to allow a fair inquiry. Olaivar was formerly a congressional staffer to Senators Ramon Revilla Jr., the late Edgardo Angara, and Sonny Angara before he was appointed undersecretary.

The Senate Blue Ribbon Committee is investigating the claims, which link public works allocations, alleged commissions, and the supposed involvement of high-ranking officials.