Alcantara et al.

Alcantara et al. | Daily Tribune

The other day, DPWH Bulacan District Engineer Henry Alcantara reportedly filed his counter-affidavit, this time denying his involvement in flood control anomalies. This has certainly caused public concern, as it would seem he has recanted his earlier testimony.

In his previous sworn statement, he admitted his involvement in the flood control corruption scandal, saying he had signed a completion certificate for a flood control project in his area without personally inspecting the site. More importantly, he also testified about the supposed involvement of certain senators and other public officials in this series of controversies.

In fact, he even surrendered to the Department of Justice (DoJ) over P181.3 million in flood control project kickbacks in two tranches as part of the P300 million worth of commissions he promised to return amid his application for the agency’s Witness Protection Program.

So this counter-affidavit comes as a surprise because it seems to jettison all admissions and confessions he has made ever since the investigation was first conducted.

Amusingly, though, the DoJ subsequently issued a press release saying the department has not received or reviewed any affidavit from Henry Alcantara retracting his previous statements.

This, of course, is highly suspect, considering the news about the existence of the said counter-affidavit was posted everywhere and it seems it is not fake news. So the claim that the counter-affidavit was not received would definitely raise some eyebrows. There is certainly more to this than meets the eye.

According to some sources, a lot of negotiations have so far taken place and some concessions have actually been made behind closed doors so that some controversial figures would be exempt from possible culpability despite the presence of overwhelming pieces of evidence against them.

Some allegedly pushed for this on account of their close ties with the administration, while others have successfully maneuvered their way in exchange for some political favor.

Worse, other sources even claim the powers that be hope that at some point the issue dies a natural death or, at the very least, is overtaken by an equally compelling issue like the projected filing of an impeachment case against the Vice President.

These claims, while valid, are not necessarily true. They may have just been concocted by these sources to mislead the public.

However, the fact that resignations in the ICI have been made left and right, that some witnesses like Orly Guteza have gone missing or have recanted their statements, and that certain available documents and other pieces of object evidence like the Cabral files may be inadmissible as evidence, would lead to speculation that maybe this administration is not really bent on sending to jail those at the top of the food chain.

Hopefully, this is not true.