Sandigan questions state witness’ credibility

Upgrade to High-Speed Internet for only ₱1499/month!

Enjoy up to 100 Mbps fiber broadband, perfect for browsing, streaming, and gaming.

Visit Suniway.ph to learn

April 9, 2026 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — Sandiganbayan justices questioned the credibility of contractor Sally Santos, who has since been declared a state witness, as they grilled her during her testimony in the malversation case against former senator Ramon Revilla Jr. and others over an alleged ghost P92.8-million flood control project in Pandi, Bulacan.

Santos, the owner of contractor SYMS Construction Inc. involved in the case, was presented by the prosecution panel as a witness before the Sandiganbayan’s Third Division for the bail hearing of Revilla and officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Bulacan 1st District Engineering Office.

Santos admitted that in her dealings with accused former DPWH district engineer Brice Hernandez, she had agreed to “lend” her license for the bidding process in securing government infrastructure projects in exchange for a royalty fee, or the so-called license-for-rent scheme.

Under the scheme, contractors’ licenses were rented by dummy companies with the involvement of some DPWH officials, but the licensed firms did not undertake any construction work.

During the defense’s cross-examination and questioning by the justices, Santos struggled to answer questions coherently, saying she could not remember specific details about the years of her dealings with Hernandez as well as the contracts undertaken by her firm since she obtained her license in 2021.

The justices pointed out how unusual it was that she only implicated Hernandez in the flood control case despite her involvement in numerous projects. The court also asked if she was being threatened or coached in her testimony, which she denied.

Santos appeared visibly stressed as she was questioned on the witness stand and repeatedly apologized for not being able to answer definitively on some details, saying it was her first time to testify in court and that she had not slept the night before.

Associate Justice Ronald Moreno warned Santos to tell the truth, saying “this will affect” her credibility and that the court may construe her statements as being a “selective memory.”

Associate Justice Karl Miranda, chairman of the court’s Third Division, also raised concerns about Santos’ credibility.

“We are very concerned about your credibility, that you do not have any bias against the accused in coming here. For me, I need to be clear in my mind that you are not just shifting the blame to the accused or minimizing your role in these matters,” he said.

Miranda questioned Santos about the projects supposedly undertaken by SYMS, noting that based on records, her firm was awarded 157 projects to date, 42 of which were DPWH projects where she had dealings with Hernandez and lent her license.

Santos admitted that of the 115 projects awarded to SYMS, only 10 percent were actually undertaken by her firm, while the rest were carried out by other firms to which she had lent her license.

She added that about half of the projects where she lent her license were government projects, while the other half was for the private sector.

Miranda said her practice of lending her contracting license constitutes a violation of contracting laws.

For the projects she handled with Hernandez, Santos said it was Hernandez who prepared the bidding and financial documents and that she relied on the progress reports he provided to confirm that the projects were being implemented.

‘P1.72 billion  delivered to Hernandez’

Santos also testified that she delivered P1.72 billion to Hernandez for the 42 infrastructure projects contracted to SYMS.

She explained that the government paid P1.8 billion to her firm for the 42 projects, from which she earned a “royalty fee” of P80 million for allowing other construction firms to borrow SYMS’s license.

She said she delivered the cash to Hernandez in batches, the largest of which was P400 million in one instance. She added that she withdrew the money from the bank within five hours.

Santos, however, said she does not know whether Hernandez distributed the money to other individuals.

She said she has returned P20 million from what she gained from bogus transactions to the government as part of the conditions for being granted state witness status. She added that she is selling properties so she can return more as restitution.

Santos also revealed that in her dealings with Hernandez, it was he who pre-selected infrastructure projects for her ahead of the bidding process.

“There were already designated names and I just submitted bids,” she said.

Santos claimed that when the flood control scandal surfaced, Hernandez told her that former DPWH district engineer Henry Alcantara was to blame.

When she asked Hernandez why the projects she had entrusted to him appeared to be ghost projects, the DPWH official allegedly told her that the projects were actually being implemented, but that Alcantara had interfered.

“He kept repeatedly saying that Henry was behind it,” she said.