‘Flood’ raps set vs Joel, Jinggoy, Zaldy, 3 others
Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said the National Bureau of Investigation had recommended the filing of charges for indirect bribery and malversation of public funds against Senators Jinggoy Estrada and Joel Villanueva, Ako Bicol Rep. Zaldy Co, former Public Works Undersecretary Roberto Bernardo, former Bulacan district engineer Henry Alcantara, and former Caloocan Rep. Mitch Cajayon-Uy.
Remulla announced the legal actions targeting the highest public officials so far in connection with the public works corruption scandal, on a day that saw more bombshells being dropped in the Senate blue ribbon committee hearing.
Alcantara, who again faced the panel on Tuesday morning, prepared a statement that also implicated former Sen. Bong Revilla and Commissioner Mario Lipana of the Commission on Audit (COA) in anomalous flood control projects, aside from Estrada, Villanueva, Co, Bernardo and Uy.
However, Remulla said his department were still looking into the case of Revilla as well as that of Lipana and his wife.
In his testimony, Alcantara said Bernardo, his boss in the Department of Public Works and Highways, told him that the insertions in the 2024 General Appropriations Act (GAA) amounting to P300 million was for Revilla, who was then running again for senator in the elections last May.
“I was told by Usec Bernardo: Henry, that’s for Sen. Bong, you may want to help him,” he said in Filipino.
As for Villanueva, he said that in 2022 the lawmaker requested a multipurpose building project worth P1.5 billion, of which only P600 million was approved.
Alcantara said Villanueva did not ask for any particular project or percentage, but Bernardo told him to look for projects and make the lawmaker the “proponent.”
Without the senator’s knowledge, Alcantara said, Villanueva was made the proponent of P600 million worth of flood control projects from the unprogrammed appropriations in 2023.
The equivalent of 25 percent of P600 million for the project proponent is P150 million, which Alcantara said he himself brought to a rest house at Barangay Igulot in Bocaue, Bulacan, and handed over to one of Villanueva’s employees named “Peng.”
More personalities
As to Estrada, Alcantara said that in the 2024 budget hearing in the Senate, Bernardo asked him if there were still projects where he could put the P355 million available for “SJE” (Sen. Jinggoy Estrada), of which 25 percent will go to the lawmaker.
The ex-Bulacan district engineer also implicated Co of the Ako Bicol party list. (See related story on this page.)
He likewise linked a company, Ferdstar Builders, recalling that the contractor sought his help and asked for a list of projects in Bulacan’s first district.
He said he did not know how Ferdstar later managed to include this list of projects in the 2023 GAA and who the contractor met in Congress.
He said the projects awarded to Ferdstar were funded under the National Expenditure Program (NEP), money allotted by the bicameral conference committee, and unprogrammed appropriations.
Alcantara also alleged that the scheme also involved Commissioner Lipana of the COA.
He said Lipana requested from him a list of flood control projects in Bulacan and that the COA official was able to insert the following in the budget: P500 million from unprogrammed funds in 2023; P400 million from the 2024 NEP, and P500 million from the 2025 NEP.
Similar to the confession earlier made by his former assistant, Brice Hernandez, Alcantara also implicated Uy.
He said he met Uy in 2021 where the former lawmaker asked him if she could download funds to the Bulacan district.
In 2022, Alcantara said Uy was able to give P411 million from GAA insertions, 10 percent of which or P41.1 million he personally gave to Uy at a restaurant on Commonwealth Avenue, Quezon City.
Evaluation
Remulla, who was at the Senate hearing, then sought permission to bring Alcantara to the Department of Justice (DOJ) for evaluation on whether he could be placed under the government’s Witness Protection Program (WPP).
“I believe this will be very helpful to the [DOJ] and the [WPP] in trying to file a case as soon as possible as this is the demand of the people—this is what the People of the Philippines want,” he said.
“In that regard, Mr. Chairman, I hope I will be allowed to bring Mr. Alcantara to the DOJ this morning so we can evaluate his affidavit in full, given all the annexes, and that we can also ask him to sign certain documents that may be necessary to pursue the malefactors mentioned in his affidavit,” Remulla added.
Committee chair Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson granted Remulla’s request, on the condition that Alcantara would later return.
Remulla said Alcantara would be brought back early in the afternoon.
Assets freeze
Returning to the Senate hearing later, Remulla told the panel that they “had the NBI come over, the AMLC (Anti-Money Laundering Council), and… the National Prosecution Service housed in the DOJ compound. We met in Room 206 over the affidavit of Mr. Alcantara and he was there present to answer questions.”
“We determined that the NBI would be investigating it and at the outset they recommended the filing of charges. So we treated this already as a complaint, with the NBI as the endorsing agency,” he said.
According to Remulla, they had also contacted the AMLC—which had a representative at the meeting—to give it a “digital file” of the complaint.
“[AMLC] already started acting on this because this is already a filed complaint with the DOJ. Given that, I believe that freeze orders have been issued already by the AMLC over the bank accounts of [these] people,” Remulla said.
“As to each one, the crimes are violation of Section 3 of Republic Act 3019; Article 211 of the revised penal code [or] indirect bribery, and Article 217 of the Revised Penal Code [or] malversation of public funds,” Remulla said.
He added that the AMLC was also set to issue a freeze order on the assets of the six individuals being sued by the NBI.
Denial
Seeking to clear his name, Villanueva rose during the plenary session later in the day, declaring: “I have nothing to hide, and I welcome any inquiry that will bring out the truth.”
Villanueva said Alcantara’s allegation itself “made clear” that he did not request for or was aware of any flood control project being pushed in Bulacan.
“Alcantara himself admitted that a fund meant to help my future projects—and he himself said—was sent, but I had no idea about that. But see, he just mentioned my name,” Villanueva said in Filipino.
Meanwhile, Estrada took offense at Sen. Francis Pangilinan’s remark during the hearing that if those involved in the pork barrel scam about a decade ago had been jailed, a larger corruption scandal could have been avoided.
While Pangilinan did not mention any name, Estrada said he could not, “in good conscience,” let the remarks go unchallenged.
“His comments, while not naming us directly, were laced with insinuations—clearly aimed at me and former Senator Revilla.
Estrada and Revilla were earlier charged with—eventually cleared of—plunder charges in the pork barrel scam involving businesswoman Janet Napoles and her bogus foundations.
The senator stressed that the past cases against him were eventually proven baseless.
More witnesses
At the DOJ, Remulla said Tuesday’s meeting with Alcantara was “just the first part.”
“We have to see him again within the week to finalize everything. But we did good work. We prepared some documents [and] submitted to AMLC the required documents so they could freeze the bank accounts,” Remulla told reporters.
Aside from Alcantara, Remulla said the DOJ was looking at another possible state witness after receiving a letter from a lawyer seeking similar consideration for Hernandez.
The DOJ plans to see Alcantara again on Friday, along with controversial contractor couple Curlee and Sarah Discaya, who are also seeking admission to the WPP.
