Ex-DPWH exec recalls P800-M ‘delivery’ to Zaldy Co
A former official of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) testified on Friday about the alleged kickbacks given to then Ako Bicol Rep. Zaldy Co, citing an instance when up to P800 million was delivered through a member of the lawmaker’s staff.
Appearing at the Sandiganbayan as a state witness, Henry Alcantara made the revelation during the bail hearing on the malversation case against former Sen. Bong Revilla and several others over an alleged “ghost” flood control project in Bulacan.
Though Co is not a respondent in the case, Third Division chair Associate Justice Karl Miranda asked Alcantara about his dealings with the former congressman. It was one way to assess the credibility of the witness, the magistrate explained.
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“I made deliveries to one of his people,” Alcantara said, referring to a Co staff member whom he would later identify as Paul Estrada.
Alcantara said he had “several deliveries” made through Estrada to a known residence of Co on Lady Bug Street, Valle Verde subdivision, in Pasig City.
According to Alcantara, a former DPWH district engineer assigned in Bulacan, out of his district’s budget of P6 billion to P8 billion in 2023, he allotted up to 25 percent for kickbacks.
Asked by Miranda to give the biggest amount he had delivered to Co alone, Alcantara said: “As I recall, 800 million (pesos).”
Co, who once headed the powerful appropriations committee of the House of Representatives during the 19th Congress, was the top newsmaker on the day Alcantara testified.
One of the central figures in the public works corruption scandal that broke out last year, Co was arrested in Prague, Czech Republic, after nine months in hiding overseas, according to an announcement made by President Marcos on Thursday night.
The former lawmaker is one of the accused in another graft case at the Sandiganbayan involving a flood control project in Naujan, Oriental Mindoro, that was found to be substandard.
Share for ‘proponents’
Also during his testimony, Alcantara described the magnitude of corruption at the DPWH—or at least in his district—before the scandal broke out.
For every P100 million allotted for flood control projects under the Bulacan 1st District Engineering Office, only around P35 million had actually been spent on the projects, he said.
Another 30 percent to 35 percent of the funds went to the project “proponent” who was either a lawmaker or a government agency, Alcantara added.
His own share
On top of this, there was a 3-percent cut set aside as “royalty” meant for the contractor in cases where the project was built using a borrowed license, as well as a 7-percent tax, he said.
The former DPWH official admitted that he took “1.5 to 2 percent” for himself.
Miranda offered a simpler math as illustration and asked Alcantara: “For every P100 given by Congress for a particular project, only P35 is left?”
“Yes, your honor, as far as my district is concerned,” the witness replied, though he clarified that it only applied to flood control projects.
For other infrastructure projects, Alcantara said, about 70 percent of the fund would end up being used for the project.
