Ched Rick Gatchalian

Former Senator Ramon "Bong" Revilla Jr. File Photo

 

Senator Ramon Bong Revilla Jr. elivers his priviledge speech at the senate on June 9th.

Article (news)

'Ang hustisya ay istrikto': ICI recommends filing of charges vs. Revilla, other officials involved in flood control mess

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/176474907377020140609-revilla-speech-jc.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Former Senator Ramon &quot;Bong&quot; Revilla Jr. <em>File Photo  </em> </span></span></span></div><p>MANILA <strong> (UPDATED) </strong>— The Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) has formally recommended the filing of charges against former Sen. Bong Revilla and other officials tagged in the flood control scandal, citing possible cases of direct and indirect bribery, corruption, plunder and administrative sanctions.</p><p>ICI chairperson Andres Reyes Jr. announced the commission&#x27;s endorsement on Tuesday, after mentioning that former Public Works Secretary Rogelio “Babes” Singson had <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/12/3/ici-announces-resignation-of-rogelio-singson-1507">resigned from the panel </a>because of the “very intense and stressful ICI work&quot; affecting his ageing body.</p><p>Reyes Jr. recommended filing charges against the following individuals:</p><p>• Bong Revilla</p><p>• Maynard Ngu</p><p>• Carleen Villa</p><p>• Gerard Opulencia</p><p>• Manny Bulusan</p><p>• Roel Umali</p><p>• Gene Ryan Altea</p><p>• J.Y. Dela Rosa</p><p>• &quot;Mrs. Patron&quot;</p><p>• Carlo Aguilar</p><p>The ICI chair added they may face charges of direct or indirect bribery, corruption of public officials and plunder as well as &quot;administrative sanctions, among others.&quot; </p><p>Revilla was among the personalities tagged by former Bulacan First District Engineer Henry Alcantara in <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/9/23/henry-alcantara-tags-revilla-estrada-villanueva-co-in-budget-insertions-kickbacks-1041">his sworn statement last September</a>.</p><p>Alcantara alleged that Revilla, as well as several other senators and House members received payoffs from their insertions in the national budget.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>LAWYER: REVILLA HAD NO CHANCE TO EXPLAIN, DEFEND SELF</strong></div><p>In a statement, Revilla&#x27;s lawyer Maria Carissa Guinto stressed that the senator had neither been issued a subpoena nor given a copy of a formal complaint against him.</p><p>&quot;He was never asked to explain. He was never given an opportunity to defend himself,&quot; she said, adding Revilla had &quot;made himself fully available to the ICI and openly welcomed their inquiry&quot; but had not been invited to appear before the panel.</p><p>&quot;Mr. Revilla remains confident that truth, rather than conjecture, will prevail, especially that the allegations against him are based on the </p><p>meaningless accusations fabricated by a criminal mastermind and his cohorts who are desperately buying their way to freedom.&quot; </p><div><br/></div><div><strong>NGU ALREADY UNDER INVESTIGATION</strong></div><p>Meanwhile, Ngu, a businessman and former special envoy to China, was accused of delivering P160 million to Sen. Francis Escudero the after inclusion of certain projects in the General Appropriations Act (GAA). </p><p>The Office of the Ombudsman said Ngu is <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/12/3/ex-special-envoy-to-china-maynard-ngu-under-investigation-by-the-ombudsman-1406">already under investigation</a>.</p><p>Former Department of Public Works and Highways Undersecretary Roberto Bernardo earlier alleged that Villa, a supposed close aide of Makati Mayor Nancy Binay when she was a senator, asked for a commitment which was &quot;set at 15 percent of the total amount of the projects indicated in the list hereto attached as Annex D&quot;.</p><p>The supposed 15 percent cut was later allegedly delivered to Binay&#x27;s residence.</p><p>Binay denied the allegation in September, <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/9/25/nancy-binay-says-kickback-claims-meant-to-divert-from-real-perpetrators-of-flood-control-mess-1202">calling it an attempt to divert attention</a> away from the actual people who need to be held accountable for the flood control mess.</p><p>Opulencia and Altea are both DPWH officials tagged in the flood control mess.</p><p>Bernardo also mentioned a person identified as &quot;JY Dela Rosa&quot;, supposedly a &quot;staff&quot; of then-Senator Grace Poe, whom he said requested the inclusion of infra projects in the DPWH budget, to be handled by a contractor known as &quot;Mrs. Patron&quot;.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>NEW EVIDENCE</strong></div><p>ICI chairman Reyes said they are submitting new evidence against several individuals, in addition to previous referrals, that may lead to more charges for the following:</p><p>• Alcantara</p><p>• Bernardo</p><p>• former DPWH secretary Manuel Bonoan </p><p>• former DPWH Undersecretary for Planning and Public-Private Partnerships Maria Catalina Cabral </p><p>• former Ako Bicol Party-list Rep. Zaldy Co</p><p>• Commission on Audit Commissioner Mario Lipana </p><p>• former Bulacan assistant district engineers Brice Hernandez and Jaypee Mendoza</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/10/13/coa-chair-ombudsman-probing-commissioner-tagged-in-flood-control-scandal-1639"><strong>COA chair: Ombudsman probing commissioner tagged in flood control scandal</strong></a></div><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/11/6/bir-files-criminal-raps-vs-ex-dpwh-officials-over-p1-6-billion-tax-liabilities-1037"><strong>BIR files criminal raps vs ex-DPWH officials over P1.6-billion tax liabiliti</strong>es</a></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>FURTHER PROBE, CASE BUILD-UP</strong></div><p><strong></strong>The ICI also referred to the Ombudsman the names of some present and former Senators tagged in the flood control fiasco.<strong></strong><br/></p><p>&quot;Because of the gravity of allegations, the committee also recommends these officials be referred to the Office of the Ombudsman for further investigative review and case build up with understanding that any additional evidence obtained will be submitted immediately,&quot; Reyes Jr. said.</p><p>He mentioned the following officials:</p><p>• Escudero</p><p>• Binay</p><p>• Poe</p><p>• Sen. Mark Villar</p><p>&quot;Ang hustisya ay istrikto (Justice os strict),&quot; the ICI chairman stressed.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/8/12/escudero-denies-hand-in-flood-control-projects-secured-by-campaign-donor-1516"><strong>Escudero denies hand in flood control projects secured by campaign donor</strong></a><strong> </strong></div><p>For these four public officials, the ICI said there need to be more whistleblowers and witnesses to prove their involvement and start case build up.</p><p>Poe, now a private citizen, said she was saddened by the developments.</p><p>&quot;I trust that the [Department of Justice] will look into this string of accusations,&quot; she said.</p><p>&quot;I support the investigations, that is why I was the first to attend the ICI proceedings. It’s alarming that my name was mentioned today,&quot; she also said as she stressed that she has never been involved in corruption.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><div><strong><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/b9_0foD42to?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span></strong><br/></div>

<p>The Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) has formally recommended the filing of charges against former Sen. Bong Revilla and other officials tagged in the flood control scandal, citing possible cases of direct and indirect bribery, corruption, plunder and administrative sanctions.</p>

The Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) has formally recommended the filing of charges against former Sen. Bong Revilla and other officials tagged in the flood control scandal, citing possible cases of direct and indirect bribery, corruption, plunder and administrative sanctions.

'Ang hustisya ay istrikto': ICI recommends charges vs Revilla, other officials tagged in flood control mess

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'Ang hustisya ay istrikto': ICI recommends charges vs Revilla, other officials tagged in flood control mess

Ched Rick Gatchalian,

ABS-CBN News

Published December 03, 2025 04:21 PM PHT

|

Updated December 03, 2025 04:54 PM PHT

Read More:

ICI

Independent Commission for Infrastructure

Flood control

Corruption

Bong Revilla

DPWH

Chiz Escudero

Nancy Binay

Grace Poe

Mark Villar

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