Alcantara says his office takes a cut from projects but leaves LGUs alone

Dismissed Bulacan 1st district engineer Henry Alcantara reiterated Thursday that his office took a cut from all projects received from the Department of Public Works and Highways but clarified that local government-led projects were handled separately.

During the Senate blue ribbon committee hearing on Thursday, Alcantara shared that he had no coordination with politicians.

He also shared that he only dealt with special allocations handed by his own contacts.

“When it comes to congressional [coordination], di po kasi ako ang in-charge po. Sila po ang kausap ng contractor, kaya I don’t have the personal knowledge [of] how much it will be,” he shared.

(When it comes to congressional [coordination], I am not the one in-charge. They are the ones in talks with the contractor, so I don’t have the personal knowledge [of] how much it will be.)

“Ang nanggagaling po sa amin 'yung mga special allocation na binababa nila Usec (Roberto) Bernardo and nila (Rep.) Zaldy Co, saka iba po,” he added.

(What we're handling were the special allocation provided by Usec Bernardo, Zaldy Co, and others.)

Meanwhile, he clarified for projects that were not led by his office, he only took specific cuts and left the rest to the LGU in charge.

He noted that his own projects have percentage for both himself and his proponents.

“Minsan po may mga bumababang proyekto na tao lang po ang kausap… Hindi ko naman po pinakikialaman na kung ano transaksyon nito,” he said.

(Sometimes, there are projects that are just coordinated with people… I don’t really pry into their transactions.)

He said that he did not know if there were proponents taking their cuts from said projects, but stated that said projects often followed what was declared in proposals.

“Mayroon pa rin po 'yun [na cut] sa office, pero sa pulitiko po hindi ko alam… Pagka roads and buildings, mga nasa 6% po [ang porsyento namin], minsan may discount nang konti,” he said.

(The office still has [a cut], but I don’t know about the politicians… If it’s for roads and buildings, [our percentage] is at 6%, sometimes we give small discounts.)

“Normally po, pagka building and roads, kung ano 'yung indicated length and ano 'yung size, lalabas pa rin,” he added.

(Normally, for buildings and roads, whatever is the indicated length and size are what comes out.) —Jiselle Anne Casucian/AOL, GMA Integrated News