Co demanded higher kickbacks under Romualdez house leadership—Alcantara

MANILA (UPDATED) — A former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) district engineer on Tuesday testified that fugitive ex-Rep. Zaldy Co demanded a 5 percent increase in commitment fees for infrastructure projects after Rep. Martin Romualdez became House Speaker in 2022.

Henry Alcantara, former DPWH Bulacan 1st District Engineer, told the Sandiganbayan Third Division during the bail hearing in Romualdez’s plunder case that Co sought to raise the kickbacks from 20 percent to 25 percent ahead of the preparation of the 2023 National Expenditure Program (NEP).

Alcantara said he compiled project requests into a “regular wishlist” and submitted it to the DPWH Central Office for inclusion in the National Expenditure Program (NEP). The initial delivery of kickbacks to Co would take place once the projects were reflected in the NEP, he said.

He also described a separate wishlist for the bicameral conference committee (bicam) stage. The remaining balance of the commitment fees would be delivered to Co once the projects were reflected in the General Appropriations Act (GAA), according to Alcantara.

Alcantara said he was not privy to any direct payments from the DPWH to lawmakers. Any such arrangements would depend on the agreements between Co and the lawmakers, he said.

The prosecution said this explained the alleged delivery of cash-filled suitcases by Co’s former bodyguards to lawmakers, including Romualdez.

Alcantara said he had no direct dealings with Romualdez, as he coordinated only with Co and former DPWH Undersecretary Roberto Bernardo.

During cross-examination by the defense, Alcantara added that he had already been dealing with Co even before Romualdez became House Speaker. At the time, the budget allocation for the DPWH Bulacan 1st District Engineering Office was already at P519 million.

Alcantara said Bernardo introduced him to Co on Sept. 20, 2021, when they discussed the allocation of funds for his district.

He said there were three to four instances when he delivered kickbacks to Co ranging from P20 million to P30 million in plastic container boxes at a coffee shop in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig.

Co’s executive aide, John Paul Estrada, later asked that the containers be replaced with suitcases because their handles would easily break under the weight of the cash, which amounted to P30 million to P40 million, Alcantara said.

He said the kickbacks came from advance payments made by bidding contractors to secure infrastructure projects that had yet to be implemented at the time.

”Sistema po, ‘yon po ay risk on their (contractors) part… tiwala lang,” Alcantara said.

He said a certain Linda Pacanas, who reportedly served as a coordinator between contractors and the Bids and Awards Committee, fixed the bidding outcomes.

He added that the infrastructure kickback scheme was already in place before Romualdez became House Speaker and Co became chairperson of the House Committee on Appropriations.