Raps filed vs 2 ‘BGC Boys’ over fake driver’s licenses
Two of the five so-called BGC Boys involved in allegedly anomalous flood control projects were charged on Tuesday with using fake drivers’ licenses to enter a hotel-casino.
The Department of Transportation (DOTr) and Land Transportation Office (LTO) filed before the Parañaque City Prosecutor’s Office separate charges of use of falsified documents against Henry Alcantara, former district engineer of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) office in Bulacan’s 1st District, and his former assistant district engineer Brice Hernandez.
Alcantara and Hernandez recently testified in recent hearings by the Senate blue ribbon committee where they admitted playing at Okada Manila using fake drivers’ licenses.
A privilege speech by Sen. Panfilo Lacson earlier draw attention to the so-called BGC Boys composed of Alcantara, Hernandez, fellow DPWH officials Jaypee Mendoza and Arjay Domasig, and private contractor Edrick San Diego.
They earned that moniker from the hotel casino staff, Lacson said, but BGC here does not stand for the commercial enclave Bonifacio Global City but for the “Bulacan group of contractors.”
In its complaint, the LTO said: “Respondent’s action/s have caused damage to the integrity of the LTO’s regulatory functions and have undermined public trust in the agency’s ability to uphold laws related to issuance of valid DLs (driver’s licenses).”
Relevant laws
Government officials are prohibited from gambling activities under Republic Act No. 6713, or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees, and under Presidential Decree No. 1869 on the franchise and powers of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor).
Falsification of documents or use of falsified documents are prohibited by Article 172 of the Revised Penal Code, which imposes a penalty of prisión correccional in its medium (two years, four months and one day) and maximum (six years) periods and a fine of not more than P1 million.
Lacson, citing Pagcor’s records, said all five BGC boys incurred a total of P950 million in losses from 13 casinos, with total transactions reaching over P1 billion.
Acting Transport Secretary Giovanni Lopez said more complaints will be filed this week against the other BGC boys, referring to Mendoza, Domasig and Edrick San Diego.
‘Under investigation’
Lopez also said the DOTr and LTO are investigating the source of the fake drivers’ licenses and has written the hotel casino for help on the matter.
“Based on the Senate hearings, the [fake licenses] apparently and allegedly came from the [hotel-casino] itself,” he said.
LTO chief Vigor Mendoza II said, regarding that disclosure, that it is still “part of [our] investigation. Either it is with a sanction or without a sanction.”
“We’ll look into that. We still don’t have the factual findings [because it is] still under investigation,” Mendoza said. —WITH A REPORT FROM INQUIRER RESEARCH
