THE stacks of cash shown in photos presented in earlier congressional hearings were all delivered to former House committee on appropriations chairman Ako Bicol party-list Representative Elizaldy “Zaldy” Co, said dismissed Bulacan first district engineer Henry Alcantara on Tuesday, September 23, 2025.
Alcantara has finally spoken up after several congressional hearings where he denied involvement in irregularities in infrastructure projects particularly in Bulacan, which was tagged as “notorious” for anomalous flood control programs.
During the resumption of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee investigation on the anomalous flood control projects on Tuesday, September 23, 2025, Alcantara said he refused to cooperate in the earlier proceeding in order to protect the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), to which he was a part of for over three decades.
“Nangangamba rin po kasi ako sa seguridad ng pamilya ko. Ang aking salaysay, maraming tao na mababanggit at ako po’y humihingi ako ng tawad sa mga tao na ito pero kailangan ko sabihin ang katotohanan,” he said.
(I am also worried about the security of my family. In my testimony, many people will be mentioned, and I ask forgiveness from them, but I need to tell the truth.)
Alcantara said he met Co either in August or September 2021 in a meeting in a posh hotel in Taguig City, and among those they discussed is the funneling of public funds for various infrastructure projects to the Bulacan 1st District Engineering Office (DEO), to which he served as the head since 2019.
He said he submitted a list of projects related to flood control to Co, and this later appeared in the 2022 General Appropriations Act (GAA).
“Sa pagitan ng apat na taon, o mula 2022 hanggang 2025, naging tagapagtaguyod si Cong. Zaldy ng mga proyekto sa B1-DEO. Mahigit kumulang 426 na proyekto. Ang kabuuang halaga ng mga proyekto na ito ay hindi bababa sa P35,024,000,000,” said Alcantara.
(In the span of four years, or from 2022 to 2025, Congressman Zaldy sponsored projects in the B1-DEO — more or less 426 projects. The total cost of these projects amounted to no less than P35,024,000,000.)
Alcantara added that in 2022, Co downloaded P519 million to Bulacan 1st DEO, P12.930 billion in 2023; P14.190 billion in 2024, and P7.385 billion in 2025.
He said Co allocated the funds in three ways, through the project’s inclusion in the National Expenditures Program (NEP), insertions in the bicameral version of the proposed budget, and using the unprogrammed allocations.
He said the P519 million in 2022, P3.250 billion in 2023, and P5.084 billion in 2025 were all insertions in the bicameral version of the proposed budget, while P3.890 billion in 2023 and P3.306 billion in 2024 were part of unprogrammed appropriations.
The rest of the allocated funds were through the NEP.
“Sa bawat proyekto na ipinapasok ni Cong. Zaldy, mayroon akong binibigay na obligasyon sa kanya para sa pondo base sa aming kasunduan. Noong 2022, ang kaniyang hinihingi sa budget ng bawat proyekto ay dalawampung porsyento (20 percent). Subalit noong taong 2023 hanggang 2025, ito ay tumaas ng limang porsyento o hanggang dalawampu't limang porsyento (25 percent),” said Alcantara.
(For every project that Congressman Zaldy endorsed, I was obliged to give him a share of the funds based on our agreement. In 2022, he asked for 20 percent of the budget for each project. However, from 2023 to 2025, this increased by five percent, reaching 25 percent.)
He said the delivery of funds to Co depends on how the project was included in the proposed budget.
“Ang pambayad para kay Cong. Zaldy ay nanggagaling sa mga advances mula sa mga kontratista pero hindi na alam ng mga kontratista kung para kanino ang advance. Ang pera na nakalaan para kay Cong. Zaldy ay dinadala sa akin. Ako naman ang nagdadala o naghahatid ng hinihinging porsyento ni Cong. Zaldy sa iba’t-ibang tao niya,” said Alcantara.
(The payment for Congressman Zaldy comes from advances given by the contractors, but the contractors no longer know for whom the advances are intended. The money allocated for Congressman Zaldy is delivered to me, and I, in turn, bring or hand over his requested percentage to his various people.)
“May isa o dalawang beses na dinadala ko sa parking lot ng Shangri-La Hotel, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig ang porsyento ni Cong. Zaldy. Paminsan-naman ay hinahatid ko ito sa kaniyang bahay sa Ladybug Street, Valle Verde 6 sa Pasig City,” he added.
(Once or twice, I delivered Congressman Zaldy’s share to the parking lot of Shangri-La Hotel in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig. At other times, I brought it to his house on Ladybug Street, Valle Verde 6, Pasig City.)
Alcantara said the stash of cash on a table, as well as on a billiard table in the photos that were first presented in an inquiry at the House of Representatives were all out for delivery to Co.
“Para po sa kaalaman ng lahat, ang pera po na yun ay para sa Bicam ni Cong. Zaldy na P519 million na may 20 percent proponent noong 2022. Ito po ay galing sa iba’t-ibang mga contractor na nakakuha sa mga proyektong naipababa ni Cong Zaldy mula 2022 Bicam,” he said.
(For everyone’s knowledge, that money was for Congressman Zaldy’s Bicam amounting to P519 million, with a 20 percent proponent share in 2022. This came from various contractors who secured the projects that Congressman Zaldy had facilitated from the 2022 Bicam.)
“Ang pangalawang larawan naman po ng pera na nakasalansan sa isang bilyaran ay para sa proponent ng NEP 2023 na P5.790 billion na dadalhin namin kay Cong. Zaldy na sa aking pagkaalala ay nagkakahalaga ng P579 million bilang 10 percent advance payment,” he added.
(The second photo showing stacks of money on a billiard table was for the proponent of the 2023 NEP amounting to P5.790 billion, which we were to deliver to Congressman Zaldy. As I recall, it was worth P579 million as a 10 percent advance payment.)
Dismissed Bulacan 1st district assistant engineer Brice Hernandez corroborated the statement of Alcantara.
He also recalled an instance where they were tasked to deliver funds to Co.
“Nagdeliver din po kami ng pera pero hindi po namin directly nakita si Cong. Zaldy. Ang pinakausap po sa amin ‘yung tao niya po ng pangalan ay Paul,” said Hernandez.
(We also delivered money, but we did not directly see Congressman Zaldy. The one who dealt with us was his man named Paul.)
“Maraming maleta po ng pera yun, siguro po billion po ‘yun. (Sinakay po namin) sa mga van po kundi po ako nagkakamali, anim o pitong van po ang gamit namin noon. Ang laman po ng isang maleta nasa P50 million. Mahigit sa 20 maleta. Nung una dineliver sa basement ng Shangri-La hotel sa BGC,” he added.
(There were many suitcases of money, probably amounting to billions. If I’m not mistaken, we loaded them into six or seven vans. Each suitcase contained about P50 million, with more than 20 suitcases in total. At first, the delivery was made to the basement of Shangri-La Hotel in BGC.")
Dismissed assistant district engineer Jaypee Mendoza also said the luggage containing funds were loaded in an elevator and was brought up to the penthouse of the hotel.
“Bukod sa Shangri-La, nagdadala rin po kami sa Valle Verde. Unang dalawang taon sa Shangri-La, sa mga sumusunod na taon puro sa Valle Verde 6 na po,” said Mendoza.
(Apart from Shangri-La, we also delivered to Valle Verde. In the first two years, it was at Shangri-La, but in the following years, everything was delivered to Valle Verde 6.)
Together with Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla, Alcantara was brought to the Department of Justice office in Manila for the evaluation of his testimony, which may result in the filing of criminal charges against those implicated in the flood control anomalies and his possible entry to the Witness Protection Program.
Co was a no show since the 20th Congress opened in July.
The House of Representatives said Co traveled to the United States for medical treatment.
Based on the records of the US Customs and Border Protection, Co arrived in New York on August 26 but left the city on September 13.
House Speaker Faustino “Bojie” Dy III has ordered the revocation of the travel clearance issued to Co, compelling him to return to the country within 10 days. (TPM/SunStar Philippines)