Bersamin says he did not resign, denies hand in budget insertions

By Chloe Mari A. Hufana, Reporter

THE PHILIPPINES’ former executive secretary refuted the Presidential Palace’s claim that he voluntarily stepped down “out of delicadeza,” denying he had a hand in the alleged P52-billion insertion in this year’s spending plan.

Former Executive Secretary Lucas P. Bersamin on Wednesday said he did not file nor sign a resignation letter, contrary to what Malacañang said only two days before.

“The only letter I sent regarding my position being vacated was the one I signed late yesterday (Nov. 18) afternoon, where I said ‘I bow to the prerogative of the President’,” he told Palace reporters in a phone call in mixed English and Filipino.

“I will also not validate any claim that I resigned if there is no such resignation.”

Mr. Bersamin was accused of adding P52 billion worth of insertions in the 2025 national budget, Senator Panfilo M. Lacson, Sr. said on Tuesday, quoting former Public Works Undersecretary Roberto M. Bernardo.

According to the senator, Mr. Bernardo learned this information from now-resigned Education Undersecretary Trygve L. Olaivar, who said former Public Works Secretary Manuel M. Bonoan had asked Mr. Bersamin how they would deal with the money.

“They (Mr. Bersamin) supposedly would take charge of how to handle the P52 billion,” Mr. Lacson told the Senate plenary during the 2026 budget deliberations.

Mr. Bersamin likewise “vehemently” denied this claim in a separate Viber chat to Palace reporters late on Tuesday.

“Bernardo could not be a credible source of relevant information if his knowledge looks and sounds like at least triple hearsay,” he said.

Malacañang on Monday announced the supposed resignation of Mr. Bersamin and then-Budget Secretary Amenah F. Pangandaman, who has also been implicated in the controversy.

Mr. Bersamin recounted that a “close friend” called him up at around 12 p.m. on Monday to inform him that he will be leaving the top Cabinet post. He accepted this possibility at the time, saying he was “only serving at the pleasure of the President.”

“You ask them if they (Presidential Communications Office) had a letter,” Mr. Bersamin said. “I never did resign.”

Following their exit, former Finance chief Ralph G. Recto took over as executive secretary, while ex-economic czar Frederick D. Go moved to head the Finance department. They took their oath of office before President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. on Wednesday morning in Malacañang.

Mr. Bersamin challenged his accusers, including Mr. Lacson and Mr. Bernardo, to formally charge him as he would answer accusations in a correct forum.

He said he talked with the President on Monday evening but refused to elaborate on their conversation.

DEFENSIVE, NOT INSTITUTIONAL
The removal of Mr. Bersamin from office shows the government is addressing the scandal “defensively, not institutionally,” Ederson DT. Tapia, a political science professor at the University of Makati, said in a Facebook messenger chat.

“When a top official says he did not resign but was simply told to step aside, it signals that responses are being shaped by pressure and optics, rather than by a transparent, rules-based accountability process,” he said, noting this leaves public in confusion whether the reshuffle was meant to correct or merely to contain.

Gary D. Ador Dionisio, dean of the De La Salle-College of St. Benilde’s School of Diplomacy and Governance, said the Marcos administration is under pressure both politically and publicly, which should prompt rapid responses to explosive claims from key whistleblower Mr. Bernardo.

However, Mr. Bersamin’s denial suggests the handling of the widening Marcos-related scandal has been poorly managed and unlikely to inspire public trust, he noted.

“If this administration will not act together, a social volcanic of dismay and anger might explode to their face,” he said via Facebook Messenger.

According to political science lecturer at the Ateneo de Manila University Hansley A. Juliano, Mr. Bersamin, who stood as chief justice in the Duterte administration, had long been associated with political forces considered problematic.

His positions on security issues, sometimes at odds with Mr. Marcos’ direction, suggest he likely lost the President’s confidence.

“I would wager he lost the President’s confidence, if he ever had it,” he said via Facebook Messenger.

ANGARA RESIGNATION CALLS
Meanwhile, Education Secretary Juan Edgardo “Sonny” M. Angara, who was also implicated in the scandal, said he does not see a need to step down as allegations against him are just “hearsay.”

“There are no specific accusations yet. There’s no mention of any transaction or anything,” he told reporters in Filipino. “So, if that were brought to court, it would be dismissed.”

The former senator was accused of getting kickbacks from fund insertions during his time as the chair of the Senate Committee on Finance from 2019-2024.

As finance chair, not only did he oversee the passage of the national budget annually, he also sat on the bicameral conference panel’s so-called “small committee,” where most of the alleged fund insertions reportedly took place.

His statement comes amid intensified scrutiny of officials accused of involvement in a corruption scandal tied to public works projects, allegedly funded through insertions in the national budget.

In an earlier testimony before the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, Mr. Bernardo implicated several senators as supposed “proponents” of infrastructure projects in exchange for kickbacks.

In a supplemental affidavit, Mr. Bernardo claimed that Mr. Angara and ex-senators Mary Grace Natividad S. Poe-Llamanzares, Ramon “Bong” B. Revilla, Jr. and Ma. Lourdes Nancy S. Binay-Angeles allegedly received as much as 25% of a project’s cost as part of the so-called “commitment,” a euphemism for kickback, from items inserted into the budget bill.

Mr. Lacson on Tuesday said Mr. Bernardo had given him details alleging that Mr. Olaivar, a longtime aide of the Angara family, received kickbacks from irregular public works projects.

Mr. Olaivar allegedly took deliveries representing 12% of project costs between 2019 and 2024.

He resigned on Tuesday as education undersecretary.