Former Bulacan District Engineer Henry Alcantara has accused House Appropriations Committee Chair Zaldy Co of facilitating billions of pesos worth of infrastructure projects in Bulacan between 2022 and 2025 in exchange for commissions.
Speaking before the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, Alcantara said his first meeting with Co took place in September 2021 at Shangri-La, Bonifacio Global City. “About a month later, I submitted a proposal on flood control projects. These eventually appeared in the 2022 General Appropriations Act, amounting to ₱519 million for six projects,” he recounted.
Alcantara claimed that from 2022 to 2025, Co pushed for at least 426 projects in Bulacan valued at no less than ₱35 billion. He outlined the breakdown as follows: ₱12 billion in 2023, ₱14.19 billion in 2024, ₱7.385 billion in 2025, and an initial ₱519 million in 2022.
According to Alcantara, Co initially asked for a 20% cut per project in 2022. By 2023, he alleged, the demand rose to 25%, with payments often staggered depending on the timing of budget insertions.
The claims add to mounting concerns over alleged “pork barrel”-style allocations in Congress. As of press time, Co has not yet issued a statement in response to Alcantara’s testimony.
