Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva has rejected claims tying him to former Bulacan 1st district engineer Henry Alcantara, who is being investigated for allegedly approving ghost flood control projects in the province.
Villanueva stressed that photos and videos circulating online showing him with Alcantara do not prove any wrongdoing. He pointed out that Alcantara, as a district engineer, had also been seen with other politicians. “This will again be used by fake news peddlers. Ano ba ‘yung transaction? District engineer siya. Lahat ng senador, lahat ng secretary na pumunta sa Presidente ng Pilipinas, nandun, nakakasama siya,” Villanueva said. He questioned why only his name was being singled out despite Alcantara’s links to many others.
The senator said he is “extremely disappointed” with Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) personnel in Bulacan amid revelations that millions worth of flood control projects in the province were bogus. “I was surprised and as I have said, and I will continue to say it, dapat na silang kasuhan (they should be charged),” he declared.
Alcantara, now on a 90-day preventive suspension to allow the probe to proceed, admitted during a hearing that he used a fake ID to enter casinos and that he signed off on a P55-million flood control project in Baliwag that turned out to be nonexistent. He and his former assistant district engineer, Brice Hernandez, are both facing scrutiny over the scandal.
