EMBATTLED big-time government contractor Carlo Aguilar is now hiding in the United States after fleeing the country last month, Las Piñas Rep. Mark Anthony Santos revealed today.
Santos said Aguilar — a relative of incumbent senators Mark and Camille Villar who has been implicated in alleged multi-billion-peso irregularities in flood-control projects — departed for Tokyo, Japan, on Nov. 19 before proceeding to the U.S.
The former Las Piñas city councilor reportedly left the country just five days after former Public Works undersecretary Roberto Bernardo testified before the Senate on an alleged commissions scheme involving senior Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) officials.
Bernardo alleged that former DPWH undersecretary for planning Cathy Cabral, purportedly with the backing of then-DPWH secretary Villar, instructed him to prepare project lists and funding proposals that were later used to secure allocations for flood-control projects.
He further claimed that commissions from approved projects were split as follows: 50 percent for Aguilar, 25 percent for Cabral, and 25 percent for himself.
Bernardo also disclosed that he was appointed Assistant Secretary of DPWH in 2016 during the term of Villar, who was then DPWH secretary, and was later promoted to Undersecretary. “While I was Assistant Secretary for Operations, I was introduced to Carlo Aguilar, a cousin of Sec. Mark Villar,” he said.
The politician-contractor allegedly served as “bagman” to Sen. Villar for five years when the senator was DPWH secretary from 2016 to 2021.
As early as September this year, Santos had urged the Department of Justice (DOJ) to immediately issue an immigration lookout bulletin order against relatives and close associates of former DPWH secretary and now Sen. Villar who were reportedly involved in questionable projects.
Santos, citing immigration records, said Aguilar has not returned to the Philippines since leaving the country.
Reliable sources also informed Santos that Aguilar was initially spotted at a Filipino friend’s home in San Diego, California, in the last week of November, before later transferring to Greendale, Wisconsin.
Last week, the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) endorsed to the Office of the Ombudsman further investigation into alleged anomalies linked to several lawmakers and former officials, including former senator Ramon Revilla Jr.
The ICI referral also sought deeper scrutiny of Senators Francis Escudero and Villar, former senators Grace Poe and Nancy Binay, and Carlo Aguilar, citing Bernardo’s sworn statements.
ICI chairman Justice Andres Reyes Jr. said potential charges under evaluation include direct or indirect bribery, corruption of public officials, plunder, and various administrative violations.
