Former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Bulacan First District Engineering Office Head Henry Alcantara has come forward, tagging lawmakers and senior DPWH officials who benefited from a multibillion-peso kickback scheme that diverted as much as 25 to 30 percent of public infrastructure funds into kickbacks between 2022 and 2025.

In a signed affidavit he read on Tuesday, Sept. 23, during the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing investigating the anomalous flood control projects, Alcantara, provided a full account of how the scheme worked, naming former DPWH Undersecretary Roberto Bernardo, former Senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr., Senator Joel Villanueva, Ako Bicol Party-list Rep. Elizaldy “Zaldy” Co, and even contractors like Ferdstar Builders as key figures.

“Ginagawa ko ang Sinumpaang Salaysay na ito upang ipakita ang aking kusang-loob na pakikipagtulungan sa mga isinasagawang imbestigasyon ng Senado, House of Representatives, at iba pang mga ahensya ng pamahalaan… at upang tuluyang panagutin ang lahat ng mga taong sangkot dito (“I am executing this sworn affidavit to demonstrate my voluntary cooperation with the ongoing investigations of the Senate, the House of Representatives, and other government agencies… and to ultimately hold accountable all those involved in these anomalous projects),” Alcantara declared in his affidavit.

Alcantara said he first met Bernardo in 1997 at the DPWH Laguna 2nd District Engineering Office, where Bernardo rose from Chief of Planning to Undersecretary. He credited Bernardo with securing his promotion to district engineer in Bulacan in 2019.

By 2022, Alcantara alleged, Bernardo had begun releasing projects with the condition that 25 percent of the total project cost would go to the “proponent.”

In 2022, Alcantara said that ₱350 million in projects flowed into his DEO with ₱70M he collected and delivered to Bernardo.

In 2023, a total of ₱710 million more was released, with Bernardo allegedly demanding advance payments of 5 to 15 percent once funds entered the National Expenditure Program (NEP) or Bicam.

In 2024, the amount of ₱3.3 billion Alcantara's DEO, including ₱2.85 billion in Unprogrammed Appropriations (UA).

"Muling nagpatuloy ang 25% na bayad sa proponent ng mga proyektong ito na ibinibigay ko kay Usec Bernardo. Tulad noong 2023, ang usapan ay mayroon ding advance payment depende na lamang kung ito ay NEP o GAA insertions (The 25% payment to the proponent of these projects continued, which I turned over to Usec. Bernardo. As in 2023, the arrangement also included advance payments, depending on whether the projects were from NEP or GAA insertions)," Alcantara said.

By 2025, a total of ₱2.55 billion was released, again with 25 percent going to Bernardo.

One of Alcantara’s newer claims was that ₱300 million worth of 2024 GAA insertions meant to support Senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. ahead of the 2025 elections.

“Ayon kay Usec Bernardo ang GAA insertions noong 2024… ay para kay Senator Ramon ‘Bong’ Revilla, Jr. na noon ay kumakandidato bilang senador para sa 2025 (According to Usec. Bernardo, the GAA insertions in 2024...were for Senator Ramon ‘Bong’ Revilla, Jr., who at that time was running for senator in the 2025 elections),” Alcantara testified.

Bernardo allegedly told him: “Henry kay Sen Bong yan baka gusto mo tumulong sa kanya e dagdagan mo ang proponent ikaw na bahala (Henry, that’s for Sen. Bong. If you want to help him, you can increase the proponent share — it’s up to you)”.

Alcantara said he agreed and stated that the proponents’ cut was increased to 30 percent “bilang tulong ko na din sa kandidatura ni Sen Bong Revilla (as my way of helping in Sen. Bong Revilla’s candidacy).”

The affidavit also implicated Senator Joel Villanueva, who in 2022 reportedly sought ₱1.5 billion worth of multipurpose building projects. Only ₱600 million was approved, which upset the senator.

“Hindi ito ikinatuwa ni Sen. Joel kaya napilitan kami gumawa ng paraan ni Usec. Bernardo (Sen. Joel was not pleased with this, so Usec. Bernardo and I were compelled to find a way),” Alcantara wrote.

Instead, Bernardo allegedly directed that Villanueva be given ₱600 million worth of flood control projects under the 2023 UA, equivalent to ₱150 million in proponents’ shares.

Alcantara said he personally delivered the money: “Ang halagang ₱150M ay dinala ko sa isang resthouse sa Brgy. Igulot, Bocaue, Bulacan na iniwan ko po sa tao nya na si ‘Peng’. Sinabi ko kay Peng na pakibigay nalang kay Boss (Sen. Joel), tulong lamang iyon para sa future na plano niya (The amount of ₱150 million was brought by me to a resthouse in Brgy. Igulot, Bocaue, Bulacan, which I left with his aide, ‘Peng.’ I told Peng to please just give it to Boss (Sen. Joel), that it was merely help for his future plans).”

He added that Villanueva was unaware the projects were flood control-related.

“Hindi alam ni Sen. Joel na flood control ang mga proyektong nailaan sa kanya dahil sa aking pagkakaalam ay ayaw ni SenJoel ng mga proyektong flood control (“Sen. Joel did not know that the projects allocated to him were flood control projects because, to my knowledge, Sen. Joel did not like flood control projects),” he said.

In Estrada's case, he recalled that they were at the 2024 budget hearing in the Senate with Bernardo, between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. While waiting, Alcantara said that Bernardo asked him if he still wanted to have projects inserted, saying that there was still ₱355 million available from ‘SJE’ referring to Senator Jinggoy Estrada.

Bernardo told him to immediately give the "list" at that time. Alcantara said that he quickly instructed my staff to prepare the list; and within 10–15 minutes, he had already handed the list to Bernardo.

Alcantara also linked Ako Bicol Party-list Rep. Zaldy Co to massive allocations in Bulacan from 2022 to 2025, totaling 426 projects worth ₱35.024 billion.

He detailed how Co’s proponents’ shares rose from 20 percent in 2022 to 25 percent in later years, depending on whether projects were inserted through the NEP, Bicam, or UA.

"Sa bawat proyekto na ipinapasok ni Cong. Zaldy, mayroon akong binibigay na “obligasyon" sa kanya para sa pondo base sa aming kasunduan. Noong 2022, ang kaniyang hinihingi sa budget ng bawat proyektoto ay dalawampung porsyento (20%). Subalit noong taong 2023 hahanggang 2025 ito ay tumaas ng limang porsyento o hanggang dalawampu't limang porsyento (25%) (For every project that Cong. Zaldy was able to insert, I gave him an ‘obligation’ from the funds based on our agreement. In 2022, what he demanded from the budget of each project was twenty percent (20%). However, from 2023 to 2025, this increased by five percent to twenty-five percent (25%))," Alcantara said.

"Ang pag-abot ng porsyento para kay Cong. Zaldy sa babawat proyekto ay kadalasang hindi isang bagsakan. Ito rin ay nakadepende kung pano naipasok o nai-insert ang proyekto (The delivery of Cong. Zaldy’s percentage for each project was usually not done in a single payout. It also depended on how the project was inserted or funded)," he added.

Alcantara explained that when a project is inserted into the NEP, the first 10 percent is immediately given to Co. The remaining 10 percent or 15 percent, depending on the year, is handed over to him after the GAA is approved.

If a project was inserted by Co during the Bicameral Conference Committee, the initial 10% was paid to him once the GAA was enacted, while the remaining 10% to 15% was delivered two months after its approval.

But when the project was inserted using the UA, the full 25 percent was immediately given to Co.

Alcantara said he delivered money to Co’s aides “Alyas Paul” and “Alyas Mark,” sometimes at Shangri-La BGC parking, other times at Co’s Valle Verde 6 residence in Pasig.

"Ang pambayad para kay Cong. Zaldy ay nanggagaling sa mga advances mula sa mga kontratista pero hindi na alam ng mga kontratista kung para kanino ang advance. Ang pera na nakalaan para kay Cong. Zaldy ay dinadala sa akin. Ako naman ang nagdadala o naghahatid ng hinihinging porsyento ni Cong. Zaldy sa iba’t ibang tao niya katulad nina "Alyas Paul" at "Alyas Mark" (The payments for Cong. Zaldy came from advances made by contractors, but the contractors no longer knew for whom the advances were intended. The money allotted for Cong. Zaldy was brought to me. I, in turn, delivered or handed over the percentage he demanded to his various men, such as ‘Alias Paul’ and ‘Alias Mark')," he said.

Alcantara further revealed that a contractor, Ferdstar Builders, gained access to flood control projects after a man identified only as “MK” requested a project list in 2022.

“Kalaunan ang listahan na ito ay lumitaw sa GAA at sa UA noong taong 2023,” Alcantara noted, though he denied knowing how the company secured funding.

After discussing this, Alcantara also stated that COA Commissioner Mario Lipana that in 2022, COA Commissioner Mario G. Lipana asked him for a list of flood control projects in Bulacan.

The affidavit also named another DPWH official, former Caloocan City 2nd District Rep. Mitch Cajayon-Uy who allegedly secured ₱411 million in GAA insertions in 2022 with a 10% arrangement.

Alcantara said that in 2021, he met then-Usec. Mitch was at a gathering, where they had a conversation, and she asked him if she could channel funds into his DEO. Alcantara replied, ‘Yes, of course.’”

“Ito ay ibinigay ko sa kanya sa isang restaurant sa Commonwealth Avenue, QC (I handed it to him at a restaurant along Commonwealth Avenue, Quezon City),” Alcantara recalled.

Alcantara confirmed that photographs of large stacks of cash shown during a Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing in 2025 were real and linked to proponents’ shares for Rep. Co’s projects.

One photo showed Alcantara himself in a blue shirt beside a table of cash.

“This was in the conference room of the old office. For everyone’s knowledge, that money was for the BICAM of Cong. Zaldy amounting to ₱519 million with a 20% proponent share in 2022. This came from various contractors who secured the projects that Cong. Zaldy had downloaded from the 2022 BICAM," he said.

Another showed bundles of cash on a billiard table.

"The second photograph, showing stacks of money on a billiard table, was for the proponent share of the 2023 NEP amounting to ₱5.790 billion, of which, to my recollection, ₱579 million represented the 10% advance payment to be delivered to Cong. Zaldy," he said.

Alcantara ended his affidavit by reserving the right to file further sworn statements as more evidence emerges.

If substantiated, Alcantara’s testimony could expose one of the largest kickback scandals in DPWH, with billions allegedly siphoned from flood control and infrastructure projects through systematic budget insertions, proponent shares, and political allocations.

This statement from Alcantara corroborates the disclosures made by his subordinates, namely, dismissed Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) assistant district engineer Brice Hernandez, and former DPWH Bulacan first district engineer Jaypee Mendoza.