Crooks nearing doomsday

Crooks nearing doomsday | Daily Tribune

The noose is tightening around Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva’s neck over his alleged involvement in what he himself described as “the rape of Bulacan,” brought about by pork projects — some of them fictitious — that cost taxpayers billions of pesos.

Villanueva has repeatedly voiced outrage over the flood control anomalies in his province, estimated to have drained P43.5 billion between 2021 and 2024 from the national government coffers.

His reaction was clearly an attempt to deflect blame, as District Engineer Henry Alcantara — the alleged bagman cited in Senator Ping Lacson’s exposé — is known to be associated with him.

“May I ask if there was ever a time in my life when I ever lobbied you for any flood control project, contractor, or anything at all in my public service career? Did I ever tell you what to do and that I’m the expert? Can you just say it, please?” Villanueva asked Public Works and Highways Secretary Manuel Bonoan during a Senate hearing.

Bonoan’s reply clearing Villanueva was expected: “Well, for the record, your honor, I don’t recall anything from you that proposed any flood control project.”

Bonoan astoundingly described the Bulacan case as “isolated.”

During a town event in Bocaue, Bulacan, whose mayor, Jonjon Villanueva, is the senator’s brother, Alcantara profusely thanked the Villanueva family for the projects in the province, which he credited as his accomplishments.

“The mayor always said, ‘Leave it to me.’ When sir would talk to me, I would just say yes. Anyway, here we are now with a solid project provided by our good senator and his family. That’s all I can say for now,” Alcantara said.

Then he revealed that he was in touch with Senator Villanueva about one of the projects.

“I’m happy for all the people of Bocaue. Although there were some inconveniences, I appreciate your understanding, given the delays in locating utilities, electric posts, etc. Their presence took a while. We really rushed this before Christmas, at the request of our senator, so our countrymen could pass through and lessen their suffering,” the DPWH official said.

In a privilege speech on 20 August, Lacson described Alcantara as a “key figure” in a “well-orchestrated syndicate” within the DPWH Bulacan 1st District Engineering Office.

He branded Bulacan as the “most notorious” province for flood control project anomalies, citing approximately 30 ghost projects uncovered by his office.

Lacson’s staff found that it was under Alcantara’s watch that 28 Bulacan projects in 2024 were flagged for irregularities, including having identical budgets of exactly P72 million and P77.199 million each despite varying specifications, designs, and locations.

Lacson said the amount was the code to let those involved in the racket know who the official in charge was.

Coded projects were often awarded to contractors like Wawao Builders, which was implicated in 85 contracts worth P5.97 billion, and the fictitious Darcy and Anna Builders, whose listed address in Cardona, Rizal, turned out to be a gym and an e-payment store.

Lacson, drawing from interviews with contractors and DPWH insiders, accused Alcantara and his successor, Brice Hernandez, who took over on 13 June 2025, of being “equally greedy” and “well-versed” in setting up rigged flood control projects.

One of the two engineers recently lost “hundreds of millions” in a Manila casino, underscoring how rich they had become, according to Lacson.

He described the Bulacan operations as “morally wicked,” involving kickbacks of 5 to 6 percent to politicians referred to as royalty, 8 to 10 percent to district engineers, and shares to members of the bidding committees and auditors.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has ordered a “lifestyle check” on government officials who may have been involved in the anomalous flood control projects, which should include members of Congress who approved the dubious projects.