Henry Alcantara denies involvement in Bulacan ghost projects

Dismissed Bulacan first district engineer Henry Alcantara has denied involvement in ghost flood control projects, stating that former assistant engineer Brice Hernandez and Jaypee Mendoza were behind those operations.

During the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing, Alcantara admitted to using and awarding projects to in-house contractors but said that he never told them to do ghost projects.

“Inaamin ko po yun po ay in-house, pero di ko po sinabi na gawing ghost [projects]. Yun po ay [aming] negosyo… The record will show na yun lang pong merong ghost na nagamit [na lisensya ay] Wowow, Syms at Darcy & Anna… pero other contractors, record be shown tapos po ang project,” he said.

(I admit that those were in-house, but I never told them to make them ghost [projects]. That was [our] business… The record will show that used [licenses] that had ghost projects were [only] Wowow, Syms, and Darcy & Anna… but other contractors, record be shown that the projects were complete.)

He said that he had ordered to look into possible ghost projects the moment President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. revealed the presence of anomalous flood control projects during his 2025 State of the Nation Address.

He said that while Hernandez and Mendoza told him there were none, he was informed by engineer Resty Sarmiento and John Michael Ramos that this was a lie.

Alcantara said that on August 3, he called all his personnel to ask why they conducted ghost projects.

“Sabi ko, ‘Bakit niyo nagawa yan? Bakit ganyan?’ Sabi ko sa kanila, ‘Baka isipin ng mga kasama niyo na ako kasama diyan. Aminin niyo sa kanila na wala akong kinalaman diyan,’” he said.

(I said, ‘Why did you do this? Why is it like this?’ I told them, ‘The people you’re working with might think I was involved. Admit to them that I know nothing about this.’)

He talked to Hernandez and Mendoza separately to ask about previous ghost projects, and requested that they sign an affidavit stating he was not involved in ghost projects, but that the two had not replied.

“Inaamin ko naman pong binigay ko [yung in-house projects] bilang negosyo, pero di ko sinabi na gawing ghost. Kaya ako po ay galit na galit ng kami ay magkakaharap,” he said.

(I admit that I did award [the in-house projects] as a business, but I never told them to ghost. That was why I was very angry when we faced each other.)

After meeting with the two, Alcantara said that he informed then-DPWH Secretary Manuel Bonoan of the ghost projects by August 7.

Alcantara confirmed that DPWH chiefs in the meeting have submitted affidavits to back his claim.

The former district engineer estimated around 50 ghost projects in the district.

He also said these ghost projects may have cost around P4 billion to P5 billion in total.

“Hinabol po at ginawa po nila yung iba [na ghost project]. Di ko po alam kung ano yung status kung natapos o nabitin o papaano po,” he said.

(They caught up and constructed the other [ghost projects]. I don’t know the status if it was finished or delayed or what.)

Brice Hernandez responds

The former Bulacan assistant district engineer reiterated his claim that all their movements were coordinated with Alcantara.

He confirmed that the discussion with Alcantara did take place, but that he and Mendoza were instructed to take the blame.

“Tumawag po siya ulit para ipa-ako yung problema, at dun na po ako sumagot na ‘Hindi ko boss gagawin yan. Di naman totoo yan. Di naman kami lang yan. Alam mo lahat ng ginagawa namin,’” he said.

(He called again to make us take the blame, and that was when I told them that ‘Boss, I can’t do that. That’s not true. It’s not just us. You know everything that we did.’)

“Siguro po, nung sumagot po ako kay Boss ng ganon, doon na po siya nag-report kay Secretary Bonoan,” he added.

(I guess when I told that to Boss, that was when he reported to Secretary Bonoan.)

Mendoza also denied that he admitted to being behind the ghost projects, and that he apologized to Alcantara’s wife.

“Hindi po [totoo na humingi ako ng tawad],” he said.

(It’s not true [that I asked for an apology.]) — BM, GMA Integrated News