MANILA – In a dramatic turn that’s injecting a sliver of hope into the festering flood control corruption saga, former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) engineer Henry Alcantara has turned over a staggering P110 million in cold, hard cash to the Department of Justice – a partial payback on the P300 million in kickbacks he admitted pocketing from ghost projects meant to shield Bulacan from deluges. The handover, sealed Friday amid armored truck escorts and forensic cash checks, marks the first cash restitution in a scandal that’s already scorched reputations and stalled billions in infrastructure fixes, but justice officials are quick to caution: This might just be the appetizer in a much larger feast of fiscal foul play.
Alcantara, the ex-chief of DPWH’s Bulacan First District Engineering Office, didn’t mince words in his sworn statement: He skimmed off the top – percentages of bloated payoffs, he claims – from funds earmarked for flood mitigation in hotspots like Balagtas and Pandi. The returned bundle? Neatly packed in plastic-wrapped P1 million stacks of crisp P1,000 bills, ferried like a heist in reverse to the Bureau of the Treasury for a rigorous once-over to sniff out fakes. Acting Justice Secretary Frederick Vida, overseeing the drop-off with the gravity of a bank vault guardian, hailed it as “recovery of the people’s money” – a tangible clawback from the multibillion-peso mess that’s left rivers raging and taxpayers raging harder.
But Vida’s no wide-eyed optimist. “This is ‘money unlawfully obtained by Engr. Henry Alcantara,'” he stressed, eyes narrowing at the road ahead. The DOJ panel poring over Alcantara’s confessions isn’t sold on the full ledger yet – P300 million disclosed, but whispers of more lurk in informant shadows. “We can’t say that’s it… If there is an informant with verifiable information that he was involved in, or got some money elsewhere, then we will confront him on that,” Vida warned, hinting at a grilling that could unravel more threads in this web of graft. The remaining P190 million? Promised in cash, timeline TBD – a dangling carrot in a probe that’s already netted criminal raps for malversation, graft, and perjury tied to those phantom builds.
Alcantara’s not spilling his guts for free; he’s provisionally tucked into the Witness Protection Program (WPP), shielded by Uncle Sam in exchange for spilling more beans. Full immunity? That’s the court’s call under RA 6981, hinging on his honesty and willingness to testify truthfully against the bigger fish. “Returning the money is a sign of good faith, proof of their desire to help the government,” Vida noted, a nod to the restitution rule that could grease his path to permanent cover. It’s a far cry from his September grilling before the House infrastructure committee, where he owned up to rubber-stamping “ghost” completions based on staff say-so – presumed regularity, he called it, a phrase that’s since become shorthand for scandal.
The spotlight falls harsh on the projects he greenlit: A P94.6-million subpar river shield in Calumpit, handed to St. Timothy Construction (the Discaya duo’s outfit); a P74.6-million flood fixer in the same town for Wawao Builders; and a P55-million concrete wall in Baliwag’s Barangay Piel, courtesy of SYMS Construction Trading – a “nonexistent” eyesore President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. blasted during an August 20 site visit. Alcantara’s ouster? Swift, courtesy of ex-Public Works Secretary Manuel Bonoan, who yanked him from his officer-in-charge gig in Region 4A once the anomalies erupted.
He’s not alone in the payback parade: Deputy Brice Hernandez and the Discaya couple have forked over luxury rides, but Alcantara’s cash drop is the splashiest yet. As Bulacan’s flood scars heal slowly and the DOJ digs deeper, this P110 million feels like a plot pivot – from plunder to partial penance. For a nation still mopping up from monsoons and mistrust, it’s a reminder that even in the murkiest waters, a little light – or loot – can start to clear the stream. But with more confessions potentially bubbling up, the real deluge of accountability might just be cresting.