3 hours ago
3
Upgrade to High-Speed Internet for only ₱1499/month!
Enjoy up to 100 Mbps fiber broadband, perfect for browsing, streaming, and gaming.
Visit Suniway.ph to learn
Daphne Galvez - The Philippine Star
April 18, 2026 | 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — Former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Bulacan First District engineer Henry Alcantara has testified before the Sandiganbayan that he delivered P800 million to former lawmaker Zaldy Co in a single cash delivery as part of their deals involving infrastructure projects.
During the bail hearing on the malversation case involving former senator Ramon Revilla Jr. over the alleged ghost flood control project in Pandi, Bulacan, Alcantara told the anti-graft court’s Third Division that he first met Co in 2021 through then DPWH undersecretary Robert Bernardo.
At the time, Alcantara said Co was allegedly looking for a district where infrastructure funds could be allocated.
In their dealings, he said he would submit a list of proposed projects to Co through his aide and they would wait and see which ones would be given funding in the national budget.
He said in 2022, he met with Co at a hotel in Bonifacio Global City. The then lawmaker instructed his aide, Paul Estrada, to get the money from a vehicle in the parking lot.
Other deliveries were likewise made to Estrada at a residence along Ladybug Street in Valle Verde in Pasig City.
In 2022, Alcantara claimed there were about P590 million worth of kickbacks tied to the allocations for infrastructure under the General Appropriations Act. At the time, the rate of kickbacks was 20 percent, he said.
The alleged kickback rate rose to 25 percent in 2023, when project allocations reached between P6 billion and P8 billion. This was the year he delivered P800 million to Co, the largest amount among the cash deliveries.
Commissions, kickbacks
Alcantara, now a state witness, also testified before the Sandiganbayan that only about 30 percent of government funds allocated for flood control projects go to its implementation, with the rest going to kickbacks and similar fees.
During Revilla’s bail hearing, Alcantara told the anti-graft court that 25 to 30 percent of the funds go to proponents of the projects as commission, while contractors get around three percent.
He admitted that he received between 1.5 percent and two percent of the project cost.
Alcantara, however, clarified that this scheme only applied to flood control projects as other infrastructure works would get about 70 percent of the funds for their implementation.
“As far as the First District of Bulacan is concerned, it (scheme) is only for flood control,” he said.
Alcantara had named Revilla as one of the project proponents, but added that this is based on a supposed verbal instruction from undersecretary Bernardo.
He said he added the acronym “SBR,” referring to “Senator Bong Revilla,” on a list of approved projects prepared by his staff.
However, after being quizzed by Associate Justice Moreno, Alcantara admitted he did not sign the document and had no proof that Revilla received any payments as he only dealt with Bernardo.
Alcantara also testified that he delivered between P1.75 billion and P1.8 billion to Bernardo as part of their dealings in the kickback scheme, in about 10 to 15 batches, saying the biggest single delivery was about P250 million while the smallest amount was P70 million.
He, however, said that Bernardo did not receive any share from the Pandi, Bulacan project, saying the resigned DPWH official was not involved in the implementation.
