Alcantara possesses kickback ‘records’ - Lacson

Metro Manila, Philippines - A dismissed government engineer at the center of a multibillion-peso flood control scam possesses records of kickbacks received by officials, a Senate official said on Wednesday, Sept. 24.

Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo “Ping” Lacson, who chairs the Senate blue ribbon committee investigating the corruption scandal, said Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla relayed this information to him as submitted by dismissed Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH)-Bulacan First District Engineer Henry Alcantara.

“When I talked to Secretary Remulla, tinanong ko sa kanya ‘yun sa sidelines [I asked him about it on the sidelines],” Lacson told reporters on Wednesday, Sept. 24.

“Merong record na hawak, hindi ito yung parang say so na bahala na si Batman. Tinanong ko anong basehan. Meron daw siyang record,” he added.

[Translation: He told me there are actual records. This isn’t just hearsay or a ‘bahala na si Batman’ situation. I asked what the basis was, and he said there are documents.]

In a sworn affidavit read during a Senate hearing on Tuesday, Alcantara made a scathing admission that his now-notorious engineering office gave kickbacks amounting to 20 to 30 percent of the funds that lawmakers and DPWH officials had inserted into the agency budget.

A computation based on the figures mentioned by Alcantara yielded the following alleged kickbacks:

Ako Bicol Rep. Zaldy Co (₱8.37 billion)

Former DPWH Undersecretary Roberto Bernardo (₱1.71 billion)

Senator Joel Villanueva (₱150 million)

Senator Jinggoy Estrada (₱88.75 million)

Former Rep. Mitch Cajayon-Uy (₱41.1 million)

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has recommended the filing of criminal charges against the identified officials for graft, indirect bribery, and malversation of public funds, in light of Alcantara’s testimony.

All the lawmakers have denied the allegations. Lacson said Bernardo is expected to attend the next hearing on Thursday, Sept. 25.

Alcantara said Bernardo told him that ₱90 million in kickbacks in 2024 went to then-Senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla - a claim the former lawmaker has denied.

He also mentioned alleged budget insertions made by Commission on Audit Commissioner Mario Lipana, but Remulla said the NBI was still verifying the information.