RESIGNED Undersecretary Roberto Reyes Bernardo of the corruption-riddled Department of Public Works and Highways has surely mastered the art of laundering money, as he has employed most of the techniques of how to keep stolen money away from the radar of banks and authorities.
And to think that former Justice Secretary (now Ombudsman) Jesus Crispin Remulla was too kind to him by granting him legal protection in the hope that he would continue narrating and reporting all those involved in the trillion pesos fund scandal of DPWH for flood control projects.
As if to further insult the Marcos administration, Bernardo has snubbed the invites of the newly-formed but toothless Independent Commission on Infrastructure (ICI), with a marching order to execute an impartial probe into the flood control fund scandal and ensure culpables are prosecuted, fined and sent to jail – as Filipinos are demanding– and secure stolen public funds be.
Since its creation by Executive Order 94 on September 11– closed-door ICI investigations have been held yet no cases have been filed and people, including the business community, are now demanding blood. Most of those linked to the massive systemic DPWH corruption have managed to evade hearings with excuses like health problems that need to be treated abroad, being a resigned official, etc. The clamor for the probes to be opened keeps mounting by the day.
BELOW THE RADAR
Documents obtained by Bilyonaryo show the Anti Money Laundering Council reviewed his 2003–2025 finances and flagged a pattern “consistent with money laundering,” noting he stopped using banks at the height of the scheme, through a “deliberate cover-up.”
The AMLC said his financial inflows and outflows from 2003 until 2025 revealed that he predominantly transacted through cash deposits, secondarily through over-the-counter withdrawals, and also through check issuances. Evidently, Bernardo’s transactions were cash intensive, a common money laundering strategy.
He stopped using his bank accounts between 2020 and 2022, despite getting a promotion. He had no inward transactions from 2020 to 2022, and no outward transactions in 2021, when he was already a Usec of the DPWH, as such was already receiving bigger compensation due to his appointment, AMLC said.
Bernardo had begun to avoid using the banking system during the said years to prevent a paper trail that would lead to his corruption scheme. Before his promotion, Bernardo was Assistant Regional Director for DPWH R IV-A(2010–2013), when “significant financial outflows” were also observed, AMLC noted.
His cash movements peaked again in 2025, “presumably because he had undertaken massive bank withdrawals to prevent the impending forfeiture of his deposits,” the watchdog added.
Bernardo opted for early retirement last August 15 or weeks after President Marcos exposed the massive corruption in flood control projects in the country.
Notably, between Sept. 12 and 22, or days before his appearance in the Senate Blue Ribbon hearing, several banks filed suspicious transaction reports (STRs) related to the flood-control controversy, with one STR stating that a client that was intending on opening a new bank account did not disclose his previous employment with the DPWH, AMLC said.
39 BANK ACCOUNTS
Bernardo maintained 39 bank accounts across 10 banks; life-insurance policies (Allianz PNB, Insular Life, and Manulife with his wife Sunshine Miguel Bernardo) and 59 properties in Malolos, Bulacan allegedly bought using laundered funds.
His accounts were spread across Philippine National Bank (13), The Real Bank (10), HSBC Philippines (4), Philtrust Company (3), BDO Unibank (3), Land Bank of the Philippines (2), Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. (2), and Bank of the Philippine Islands (1).
He also took out large loans between 2008–2011 and in 2014, which were repaid within weeks.
Bernardo’s government bond and time-deposit investments were short-lived—sold or withdrawn within years (2008–2009 and by 2014, respectively)—a pattern it said that mirrors money-laundering tactics rather than genuine investing.
The AMLC concluded a “probable cause” linking Bernardo’s bank deposits, insurance policies, and real properties to violations of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, Malversation of Public Funds, and Indirect Bribery under the Revised Penal Code, as well as unlawful activities under the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA).
Bernardo once headed the International Global Mining Exchange before his appointment as DPWH undersecretary by then DPWH Secretary Mark Villar. He was a protege of former President Estrada (himself ousted and jailed for plunder making his presidency short-lived).
He now faces criminal charges with the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) aside from separate cases filed by current DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon against him before the Ombudsman.
The AMLC has secured an ex-parte freeze order on his assets, citing probable cause linking them to illicit activities.
Bernardo was implicated in the Bulacan flood-control scam by his district engineer Henry Alcantara, who told senators he funneled P6.91 billion in projects—P5 billion of which were ghost works. Alcantara claimed remitting a 25 percent “proponent’s” kickback—normally reserved for lawmakers—to Bernardo via his driver or chief of staff, often at the Diamond Hotel parking lot, where Bernardo allegedly maintained a suite. He said 30 percent or P2.1 billion of the funds went directly to legislators.
Days later, Bernardo reportedly admitted his role in the DPWH syndicate, including how he delivered proceeds to Senators Chiz Escudero and Bong Revilla, former Senator Nancy Binay, and DepEd Undersecretary Trygve Olaivar (allegedly for Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin).
LAUNDERING TACTICS
Money laundering is prevalent globally with the United Nations estimating the problem hitting $800 million to $2 trillion annually, or 2 to 5 percent of the world’s GDP (gross domestic product).
Over the years, criminals have devised different methods of laundering money, all of them designed to make illicit money appear legitimate through the following modes:
- Moving money through different accounts or invest in businesses that are their fronts
- Buy expensive items and mask the source making it hard to trade the origins of illegal money
- Common tactics include cash deposits, purchasing monetary instruments and smuggling currency all of these are labelled as placements
- Layering come in complex transactions such as moving across different accounts, regions and financial instruments to obscure the money trail through wire transfers, shell companies and complex financial products
- Integration includes investing in legal businesses or luxury items like investments in real estate, businesses and high value assets
- Smurfing (or structuring) or breaking down large amounts into smaller ones to make it less suspicious and avoid detection by financial institutions and using multiple bank accounts and money mules (dummies)
- Cash-intensive businesses that handle large volumes of cash and mixing dirty money with clean ones
- Bulk cash smuggling by bringing large cash to another country’s banks and later used for drugs and arms or they can be cash hidden in vehicles, luggage and personal items
- Trade-based money laundering misreporting the value of goods and quantity or having multiple invoice
- Real estate laundering where they buy properties and sell them later making their income legit
- Shell companies and trusts which exist only on paper (sometimes with a bank account)
- Casino and gambling where criminals buy chips with illicit funds then gamble and cash out winnings with legitimate money
- Cyber laundering using digital platforms like cryptocurrencies and online banking. This method launders money digitally. The anonymity and speed of these transactions attract criminals. They move unlawful funds across borders quickly. This integrates the money into the financial system
- Bank capture occurs when money launderers gain control of a financial institution through bribery, extortion, or other corrupt means. Once in control, they manipulate transactions. They bypass AML measures allowing them to move large sums without detection; and
- Transaction laundering uses financial institutions to process illegal transactions through fake businesses.
ENTRENCHED SYNDICATE
He was first mentioned at the Blue Ribbon Committee as the padrinos of engineers Henry Alcantara and Brice Hernandez of DPWH Bulacan first district.
He was also mentioned by the king and queen of flood control, the Discaya couple, when they said he required them to pay SOP after awarding them projects.
Blue Ribbon chair Sen. Panfilo Lacson also named Bernardo and Bonoan as partners in the MBB Global– contractors in Bulacan flood control projects– of which the children of Bernardo and Bonoan are among the owners.
He rose from the ranks in 30 years becoming undersecretary for regional operations in the Visayas, NCR and Region IV-B with overall supervision and control of all infrastructure projects before being handpicked by Villar as undersecretary during the time of exiled President Duterte.
Grapevine talk is that Bernardo may have already left the country last month even as DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon earlier requested the issuance of an immigration lookout bulletin order on contractors and DPWH officials, including Bernardo.