Bersamin’s Exit Interview: ‘I Was Just Holding the Bag… of Cash’

He Didn’t Steal the Money… He Just Held the Door Open

By Louis “Barok” C. Biraogo –November 17, 2025

The palace is quiet tonight. Too quiet.

But in the shadows of Malacañang, whispers slither like rats through the drainage pipes—pipes that, ironically, were supposed to stop the flooding.

Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin steps before the cameras, voice flat, eyes unblinking:

“Not true until it actually happens.”

Not a denial.

A confession. Let the dissection begin.

1. The Artful Dodge

“Not true until it actually happens.”

Say it slow. Let it sink in. This isn’t reassurance. This is a man buying time with a philosophical shrug. In any normal government, a top official would crush resignation rumors with:

“I serve at the pleasure of the President—and he’s pleased.” Instead, Bersamin dangles a conditional. A loophole. A trapdoor. Why? Because in the Marcos administration, rumors are policy. They float like trial balloons—testing public temperature before the axe falls. Bersamin didn’t invent the game. He’s just the latest player. His words aren’t a shield. They’re a smoke bomb. And the stench? It’s coming from the flood-control projects rotting beneath his feet.

**Exit interview translation: ‘I held the bag… until the seams—and the dikes—burst.**

2. The Web of Scandal

Let’s not pretend these are separate stories. The resignation rumors didn’t sprout in a vacuum. They’re rooted—deep—in the:

₱332 BILLION FLOOD-CONTROL CATASTROPHE

Ghost dikes
Collapsing revetments
Contractors vanishing like smoke
Mayors screaming about projects built on wrong coordinates

Bersamin wants you to believe he’s just a coordinator. A traffic cop. Wrong. He’s the central node. The nerve center. The man who:

Signs off on inter-agency memos
Sits in budget meetings
Knows when DPWH is railroading local governments

When a former DPWH undersecretary swears under oath that:

“15% of every contract was ‘committed’ to the Office of the Executive Secretary”

—that’s not a DPWH problem. That’s a PALACE PROBLEM.

The Apologists’ Defense (and Why It’s Garbage)

Excuse	Reality Check
“He’s just a scapegoat!”	If your house burns and the fire marshal was asleep—you don’t blame the smoke alarm.
“It’s DPWH’s fault!”	He hired the marshal. He locked the doors.
“COA should’ve caught it!”	Oversight failed on his watch.

Bersamin isn’t innocent because he didn’t hold the match. He’s guilty because he locked the doors.

3. The Speculative Knife

So how does it end?

Scenario A: The Sacrificial Lamb

Marcos sees headlines
Feels the heat
3 a.m. call: “Lucas, it’s time.”
Press release by breakfast
Recto in. Go to Finance.
Public claps. Ship steadies.

Cost: One loyalist. Benefit: Illusion of action.

Scenario B: Factional Bloodbath

This isn’t about floods. It’s Romualdez vs. Bersamin.

Speaker wants his man in Palace
Bersamin blocks budget favors
President lets the knife twist

Recto in? That’s not a promotion. That’s a demotion with a view.

Scenario C: The Quiet Execution

No drama
“Personal reasons” resignation
Bersamin retires to his farm
The 15% stays buried

And the floodwaters rise again next monsoon.

4. The Performance Review from Hell

Job Description:

Run the President’s office. Coordinate agencies. Prevent disasters.

Actual Performance:

OVERSAW THE BIGGEST INFRA SCANDAL IN HISTORY

Duty	Grade	Evidence
Coordination	F	LGUs begging for project lists. DPWH building in rice fields.
Oversight	F	Contractors fleeing with billions. COA flagging ghost deliverables.
Crisis Management	F	Forms “fact-finding panel” after dams collapse.

He didn’t steal the money? Maybe. But he presided over the heist.

In a government promising Bagong Pilipinas—

This isn’t failure. This is fireable negligence.

5. The Fallout

Timeline	If He Falls
Short-term	Marcos buys 48 hours of applause. Opposition pauses.
Medium-term	Recto drowns in Palace inbox. Flood projects? Still broken.
Long-term	Precedent: Scapegoat today, shield tomorrow.

But what if it’s the first domino?

15% affidavit surfaces?
COA names names?
The Ombudsman finally grows a spine — and plunges it straight into Malacañang’s rotting heart.

Then Bersamin isn’t the end. He’s the beginning.

6. The Demands

ENOUGH GAMES. Here’s what I demand—and what you should demand:

Fire Bersamin. Today.
Publish every flood-control contract. Coordinates. Bids. Payments. Public portal. No redactions.
Empower COA with real-time audit access. Catch thieves before they vanish.
Prosecute the 15% chain. Contractor → undersec → whoever collected in Malacañang.
Ban DPWH “emergency” procurement. Open bidding. GPS-verified.
Independent Infrastructure Commission. No politicians. Just engineers, auditors, and jail time.