Alcantara admits using alias, fake ID to enter casino

Former Bulacan 1st district engineer Henry Alcantara admitted that he used an alias and a fake ID to enter a casino.

According to Sandra Aguinaldo’s Tuesday report on “24 Oras,” Alcantara said he knows that government employees are prohibited from entering a casino.

Alcantara is the district engineer linked to several anomalous flood control projects in Bulacan.

When asked how he entered a casino, Alcantara said, “May ID po silang binigay sa akin na iba po yung name ko doon, Your Honor.”

(They gave me an ID with a different name.)

A Senate hearing on Monday revealed that Alcantara went to a casino with engineer districts Brice Hernandez and Jaypee Mendoza, his former colleagues in the Bulacan 1st Engineering District.

According to a trusted source of GMA Integrated News, the three engineers went to a casino using aliases.

Alcantara’s alias was Joseph Villegas, while Hernandez and Mendoza used the aliases Marvin de Guzman and Peejay Asuncion, respectively.

In a separate House hearing on the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR), the gambling activities of some government officials and employees were also discussed.

PAGCOR revealed that this year alone, P180 million worth of winnings from casino players were kept because they were  discovered to be government employees.

A councilor supposedly resigned from his office to collect the P14 million he won from gambling, but PAGCOR requested a certification from Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla to confirm his resignation.

“Halata po nag resign sya noong nanalo na sya. hiningi ko naman. Kailangan certified by DILG Secretary. Hindi na po siya bumalik,” PAGCOR chairman Alejandro Tengco said.

(It was obvious that he resigned after he won. I did ask for the certification from the DILG Secretary. He did not return.)

Under the Administrative Code of 1987, government employees are prohibited from gambling.

Government officials and employees are also prohibited from entering a casino under Memorandum Circular No. 6 series of 2016 of the Office of the President.

Due to the number of government employees, PAGCOR admitted that they find it difficult to monitor who enters a casino, so it will implement a “second screening” of those who win. — Mariel Celine Serquiña/RF, GMA Integrated News