Gifts or compliance? Ex-DPWH district engineer admits receiving luxury SUVs, watch

Former Department of Public Works and Highways district engineer Henry Alcantara on Thursday admitted receiving luxury vehicles and a high-priced watch from his colleagues in Bulacan's first district engineering office, but added that he returned them after the flood control project controversy hit the headlines.

His top subordinate, former assistant district engineer Brice Hernandez, indicated that they were not gifts but compliance with Alcantara's requests.

During the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing, Alcantara said that his staff had given him a GMC vehicle worth over P10 million as a birthday present, as well as a Toyota Land Cruiser 300 on another occasion.

"Birthday gift daw po nilang tatlo, biniro ko pa po sila, ‘Anong gagawin ko diyan, sana pinera niyo na lang'," Alcantara said.

(They said it was a birthday gift from the three of them. I even joked, ‘What would I do with that, you should have just given me cash instead.’)

He added that when the controversy made the news, he returned the vehicles.

“Actually noong pumutok na po ito, sinauli ko po ’yung sasakyan. Sabi ko hindi ko kailangan ’yan kung diyan nanggaling ’yan.”

(When this issue blew up, I returned the vehicle and told them I didn’t need it if that’s where it came from.)

Hernandez said their superior asked for the so-called “gifts.”

“Yung sasakyan po na LC300 at GMC, hindi po namin niregalo ’yon, hiningi niya po ’yan sa amin,” Hernandez said.

(The LC300 and GMC were not given freely; he demanded them from us.)

He said Alcantara asked for an even more extravagant item 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 actually requested as a birthday gift was a Patek watch worth over P5 million. As far as I know, we bought it somewhere in Makati.)

Senate President Tito Sotto expressed disbelief, saying it would take more than two years of waiting before one can get the luxury watch upon ordering one.

“It was bought from the black market, Your Honor,” Hernandez said. –NB, GMA Integrated News