Infrastructure corruption: Bersamin afraid he’ll be fall guy — Erice
MANILA, Philippines — Amid fears of being made a scapegoat in the infrastructure corruption case, Undersecretary Adrian Bersamin allegedly executed an affidavit inside Batangas Rep. Leandro Legarda Leviste’s home, Caloocan Rep. Edgar Erice said.
In messages sent to reporters on Wednesday, Erice confirmed ACT Teachers party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio’s statement that supposed text messages exist between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Bersamin regarding alleged kickbacks from budget insertions and infrastructure projects, which Leviste reportedly showed them.
“Yes, Leandro showed us the text messages between PBBM (Marcos) and Adrian Bersamin. Three occasions with three more congresspersons and a mayor,” Erice said.
When asked how Leviste obtained a photo of the supposed message between Marcos and Bersamin, Erice said Bersamin prepared an affidavit inside Leviste’s home in case something happened to him.
“In Leviste’s house, Adrian made an affidavit in Batangas because he was afraid of being made a fall guy, so he prepared it just in case something bad happens to him. Congressman Leviste showed us CCTV footage of Adrian arriving at his house in Taal, Batangas, supposedly with lawyers,” Erice said in Filipino.
“Yes. He showed us all the exchanges between PBBM and Adrian, with their cellphone numbers,” he added.
Erice also said that Leviste did not show everything, but the information is supposedly stored on a USB drive.
When asked why Bersamin chose to visit Leviste, Erice said the former undersecretary appears to have a “strong relationship” with people from Batangas.
“It’s on a USB. There are a lot more that Lean did not show us. It seems that Adrian has a strong relationship with people in Taal, Batangas. In fact, the former chief of staff of ES Bersamin is now the mayor of Taal and a political ally of Leandro,” Erice noted.
In a speech on Tuesday, after the House of Representatives adopted the Committee on Justice’s recommendation to dismiss the impeachment complaint against Marcos, Tinio said the dismissal is premature, as “records of communications” would prove that the President personally knew of and facilitated kickbacks.
READ: Tinio: I saw ‘records of comms’ proving Marcos knew insertions, kickbacks
In a press briefing on Wednesday, Tinio doubled down on his claims that Marcos had knowledge of the kickback scheme. According to Tinio, Bersamin allegedly informed Marcos that a P2-billion delivery would be made to Narra Residence, to which the president supposedly responded that he would send someone.
Tinio admitted that Leviste was one of his sources, along with a local government unit (LGU) official. He also said it would be best if Leviste explained himself, as he knows how he obtained a copy of the alleged conversation.
“He’s (Leviste) not the only one, I mentioned an LGU official who is in possession of these records as well … It’s better that, for example, Congressman Leviste be the one [to speak]. Why? Because he can explain the provenance of these records,” Tinio said.
“He is better-equipped to explain how he got hold of these records,” he added.
Leviste, however, did not directly confirm whether he was the source of information on the supposed text messages between Marcos and Bersamin.
In a statement posted on his Facebook page on Wednesday, Leviste told those asking about the conversations to simply watch the statements of Tinio and Erice.
READ: Leviste silent on alleged messages between Marcos, ex-Usec Bersamin
Leviste reiterated his previous statement that evidence regarding the infrastructure project anomalies would come out at the right time.
READ: Evidence of infra kickbacks to surface at the proper time – Rep. Leviste
Bersamin’s name was first linked to the infrastructure project corruption issue after former Ako Bicol party-list Rep. Elizaldy Co in November 2025 claimed he was directed by former Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman to make P100 billion worth of insertions in the 2025 budget.
Bersamin was one of the people Co consulted to verify whether Pangandaman’s alleged directive really came from Marcos. Afterwards, Co said he went to former House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, Marcos’ cousin, to inquire about the instruction.
However, Co’s statements have been questioned by several individuals, including some critics of the current administration. Professor Antonio Contreras and former Finance Undersecretary Cielo Magno noted a flaw in Co’s claims, saying the president could have made the insertions himself if he wanted to.
READ: Profs on Co’s testimony: Marcos could have made insertions at NEP level
There were also concerns as to whether the order indeed came from Marcos as Co in his statements never said that he got to speak to Marcos directly. /mcm
