Former Bulacan District Engineer Henry Alcantara admitted on Monday that he sometimes goes to the casino with his subordinate district engineers, Brice Hernandez and Jaypee Mendoza.
According to Senator Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito, they went to play in the casino right after their 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. work schedule.
“Pero yung grupo niyo raw po hindi lang kayo shopping body, e pati po sa paglalaro. Dapat po ma-verify kung paano po kayo nakakapasok, considering that you are government officials, paano kayo nakakapasok sa casino?” Ejercito questioned during the hearing of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, implying that it needs proper investigation as to why they can frequently go to casinos despite them being public officials.
“Lalo na ‘to si Brice Hernandez, sinabi ni Senator Ping Lacson, tila matakaw sa pera, e pag magpataya raw ‘to Mr. Chair, isang taya, limang milyon. Hindi natatakot. Walang kaba-kaba,” Ejercito said, especially criticizing Hernandez for squandering money for gambling, “Do you conform or do you deny?” the senator asked.
“Your Honor, hindi ko po alam kung magkano tinataya niya dahil hindi naman po kami magkasama sa table. Inaamin ko po, ako po'y nakapasok sa casino,” Alcantara admitted.
The former district engineer further confirmed that he, along with other district engineers, including Brice Hernandez, visited gambling establishments two to three times per month.
“Balita ko rin naman po eh kayo naman eh hindi masyado, hanggang P30,000 to P50,000 lang, pero itong isang inyong sumunod sa inyo medyo mas malaki-laki,” Ejercito said, stating that Alcantara only spends a small amount of money compared to other accompanying district engineer who splurged large amounts of money that is actually alleged to be from the public funds.
Ejercito also suggested that CCTV footage from casinos should be collected to verify the engineers’ alleged daily "field trip” to the gambling establishments.
