The House Committee on Infrastructure co-chair, Bicol Saro Party-list Rep. Teddy Ridonon, on Monday tagged former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Bulacan 1st District Engineer Henry Alcantara as a “whale” in the ongoing probe into irregular flood control projects.

The representative accused Alcantara of intentionally certifying a P55 million ghost project in Bulacan, rejecting his claim that negligence led to the irregularity.

“Yung negligence is his defense. We reject this defense. Kasi, you cannot have plundered if you are just negligent. What I’m stating today is that he knew it. He intended to ghost it,” Ridon told the media after the hearing. He added that Alcantara’s lifestyle is different from other engineers from DPWH.

Alcantara admitted during the hearing that he signed off on projects without site inspections and that he trusts his staff on this matter.

The casino goers

Alcantara admitted that he frequented casinos with former DPWH district engineer Brice Hernandez.

He also confessed that they are able to enter the casino using fake identification cards to evade the gambling ban on government officials.

Meanwhile, Senator Panfilo Lacson disclosed that two big-time gamblers from Bulacan, using aliases, reportedly lost almost P300 million in casinos.

The committee vowed to continue its investigation to determine the extent of corruption and hold accountable those responsible for the misuse of public funds.