MANILA — A prosecution witness has implicated former Ako Bicol party-list representative Zaldy Co in an alleged billion-peso cash delivery scheme, testifying before the Sandiganbayan that more than P1 billion may have been transported to Co’s residences in eight separate transactions between 2022 and 2024.
Wilt Walter Rosales, former personal assistant to ex-Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) engineer Henry Alcantara, disclosed details of the alleged cash deliveries during Thursday’s sixth day of hearings on the bail petition of former House Speaker Martin Romualdez, who is facing a P7.4-billion plunder case.
The testimony provided a detailed account of how huge amounts of cash were allegedly counted, packed into suitcases, transported to Co’s residences and acknowledged through receipts that were subsequently destroyed.
Asked by Sandiganbayan Third Division Associate Justice Ronald Moreno whether the combined deliveries could have reached P1 billion, Rosales replied, “Maaari pong umabot mahigit [P1 billion] (It could reach over P1 billion).”
Romualdez is charged alongside Co, Co’s personal assistant Joselyn Tragua Sereño and Samchan Foreign Exchange Corporation president Felicito Cristobal Guevarra.
Rosales identified eight alleged deliveries spanning nearly three years, beginning in February 2022, followed by transactions in January, February, September, October and December 2023, January 2024 and December 2024.
According to his testimony, three deliveries were made to Co’s Horizon Residence in Taguig City, while five others were brought to his Valle Verde residence in Pasig City.
Rosales said the money was initially transported in plastic storage boxes known as duraboxes in 2022 before suitcases became the preferred containers beginning in 2023.
He testified that he personally helped count the cash alongside Bulacan First District Engineering Office engineer Carlo Rivera inside a red room at Alcantara’s office.
The money was arranged in bundles of P100,000 each, with 10 bundles making up P1 million.
“Sampu-sampu po [na bundle na P100,000]. Kung sampu po siyang [bundles], P1 million na po iyon,” Rosales testified.
He said the largest amount he personally counted in a single instance reached approximately P100 million.
Rosales estimated that medium-sized suitcases could accommodate P20 million in cash, or up to P25 million if expandable.
Large suitcases, meanwhile, could reportedly hold around P20 million, with expandable versions capable of carrying between P40 million and P45 million.
However, Romualdez’s defense lawyers questioned the reliability of these estimates, pointing out that Rosales’ judicial affidavit did not specifically mention P25-million deliveries using medium-sized suitcases or P40-million deliveries using large ones.
The defense also raised questions about his testimony that sticky notes were attached to the suitcases to indicate the amounts inside.
Rosales maintained that the cash was counted before being packed for delivery.
He further testified that Alcantara would request acknowledgment receipts whenever Rosales did not accompany him during the alleged transactions.
The receipts supposedly carried the signatures of John Paul Estrada or Mark Ticsay, whom Rosales identified as executive assistants to Co.
In another disclosure, Rosales claimed that Alcantara subsequently ordered the destruction of these receipts after the deliveries had been completed.
“Inuutos niya po na itapon na kasi tapos na po ‘yan (He would order us to throw them away because the delivery was done),” Rosales said.
The alleged disposal of the receipts raised questions about the availability of documentary evidence that could independently establish the amounts delivered and their intended recipients.
Despite describing the cash-handling and delivery arrangements, Rosales acknowledged that he had not been informed of the purpose of the transactions.
Asked whether Alcantara had explained why the money was being delivered to Co, Rosales answered, “hindi po.”
The witness’s account remains subject to judicial scrutiny, particularly over the actual amounts involved, the purpose of the alleged payments and their connection to the plunder charges.
The testimony forms part of the ongoing proceedings on Romualdez’s bail petition, during which the Sandiganbayan is examining the prosecution’s evidence in the P7.4-billion plunder case./PN
