Who is ‘Boss Henry,’ DPWH official tagged in flood control corruption?

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Was he the mastermind? What was his involvement? Where does command responsibility lie?

Dismissed Bulacan 1st district engineer Henry Alcantara is under fire over questionable flood control projects in flood-prone areas of Bulacan. Despite serving as a high-ranking official of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) in the province, Alcantara has been distancing himself from the controversy.

At the blue ribbon committee hearing on Thursday, September 18, Alcantara was cited for contempt and ordered detained at the Senate. The contempt citation was issued due to his evasive responses and alleged lies about his involvement in the ghost projects in Bulacan.

“Dalawang hearing na itong nagsisinungaling. Lahat ng tao mo sa baba may kasalanan, ikaw wala? District engineer ka. Hindi mo alam na may ghost projects? Wala ka ring alam na lumobo ‘yung budget mo? Hindi ba dumadaan sa lamesa mo ‘yan na lumaki ‘yung pondo mo? Mr. Chair, I think this person is lying!” Senator Erwin Tulfo said.

(This is the second hearing where he’s been lying. All of your subordinates are at fault, but you arent’t? You’re the district engineer. You didn’t know there were ghost projects? You also don’t know that your budget ballooned? Doesn’t that go through your desk when the funding increases? Mr. Chair, I think this person is lying!)

Alcantara, a native of Bocaue, Bulacan, earned his engineering degree from the University of Santo Tomas. He began his career at the DPWH in 1994. In 2019, he was appointed district engineer of Bulacan’s 1st engineering district by then-DPWH secretary, now-Senator Mark Villar.

Make no mistake, Alcantara has been attending the Senate probe. In previous hearings, however, he was not grilled about his involvement, despite being the top engineer in Bulacan.

But why was there no tough questioning until the September 18 hearing?

The first three hearings were led by then–blue ribbon committee chairman Senator Rodante Marcoleta. Thursday’s hearing was presided over by Senate President Pro Tempore Ping Lacson, marking his first time chairing the committee since assuming the role following the recent Senate leadership shake-up.

‘Boss Henry’

Photos of Alcantara with Senators Jinggoy Estrada and Joel Villanueva have been circulating online following revelations that the two senators may have alleged links to the anomalous projects. Lacson said that neither senator is off the hook, especially since the alleged insertions of P355 million in the 2025 budget and P600 million in the 2023 budget could be connected to them. Both senators have denied the alleged links.

At Thursday’s probe, a photo was presented showing someone who appeared to be Alcantara in front of a stash of money. When asked about it, Alcantara told senators that it could be him or might not be him. The photo was presented by former DPWH engineer Brice Hernandez to prove his point that Alcantara knows about the corruption scheme.

“Ikaw talaga ‘yan eh (That’s really you),“Lacson said. “Baka nga po, your honor (Maybe it’s me, your honor),” Alcantara said.

Hernandez told senators on Thursday that for every ghost project, 40% of the profit went to Alcantara, while he and two other engineers each received 20%. Alcantara rejected Hernandez’s accusation.

“Hindi ko po alam [kung sino ‘yung proponent,] your honor. Every time po na may itatanong sa kanya, puro po ang turo sa akin…. Maliwanag naman po dito na sinasabi ng contractor na sila po ang kausap niya, your honor,” he said.

(I don’t know [who the proponent is], your honor. Every time he’s asked something, he keeps pointing at me.… But it’s clear here that the contractor said they were dealing with him, your honor.)

If you’ve been following the probe into the anomalous flood projects, Alcantara’s name has consistently come up in the testimonies of his subordinates, Hernandez and another Bulacan engineer, Jaypee Mendoza. Hernandez has been saying that they were only getting instructions and orders from their “Boss Henry.”

At the Thursday probe, Hernandez admitted to the involvement in billions’ worth of flood projects, as he pleaded to Alcantara to do the same.

“Hindi ko po alam bakit ayaw pa aminin ng boss namin na alam nya rin lahat ng nangyayaring ito. Kami po wala na po mawawala sa amin, naka-all out na po kami. Inaamin po namin ‘yung ginawa namin, ‘yung kasalanan namin. At kung ano po man ‘yung kailangan naming ibalik, ibabalik po namin,” an emotional Hernandez told Lacson.

(I don’t know why our boss still refuses to admit that also he knew everything that was happening. As for us, we have nothing left to lose — we’ve laid out everything. We are admitting what we did, our mistakes. And whatever needs to be returned, we will return it.)

Expensive ‘gifts’

Alcantara admitted that his staff had given him a GMC vehicle worth over P10 million as a birthday gift, and a Toyota Land Cruiser 300 on another occasion. However, he claimed that he returned both vehicles after the ghost projects were exposed. Hernandez, on the other hand, alleged that Alcantara had personally requested these gifts, and even asked for something more extravagant for his birthday.

“Ang hiningi niya pong regalo sa amin nung birthday niya ay isang Patek na relo. Nasa P5 million mahigit po. Alam ko po dito banda sa Makati namin binili iyon,” Hernandez said. (What he asked from us as a birthday gift was a Patek watch. It cost over P5 million. I believe we bought it somewhere around Makati.)

To support claims about the existence of ghost projects, contractor Sally Santos of SYM Construction previously testified that she was forced by Hernandez to use her contracting license for the said projects.

Alcantara earlier admitted signing the completion certificates for infrastructure projects that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. recently discovered to be non-existent.

The DPWH, in its decision dated September 4, found Alcantara “guilty of the administrative offenses of disloyalty to the Republic of the Philippines and to the Filipino people, grave misconduct, gross neglect of duty, and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service.”

The agency said Alcantara’s “failure to safeguard public interest, which resulted in the payment of ‘ghost’ projects, tarnished the image and integrity of the DPWH.”

Alcantara’s outright denial and apparent attempts to appear unaware of the anomalous projects have led the public to suspect that he may be concealing information or protecting certain individuals. Was he the mastermind? Or is there someone higher up whom he refuses to name? – Rappler.com