Says ex-DPWH engineer yet to file counter-affidavit on flood infra mess
The Department of Justice said it has yet to receive any affidavit from former Public Works engineer Henry Alcantara retracting his earlier statements on his involvement in the flood control anomalies.
“The DOJ has not received or reviewed any affidavit from Henry Alcantara retracting his previous statements,” Justice spokesperson Polo Martinez told reporters.
“There has been no official recantation by Alcantara, whether written or verbal,” he added.
In an earlier interview on Bilyonaryo News Channel, Ramon Esguerra, lead counsel for Senator Joel Villanueva, said Alcantara has filed a counter-affidavit, arguing there is insufficient evidence to support the allegations against him.
“There is no evidence that I favored any contractor, employee, or individual. There is no witness that states I approved irregular payments or instructed preparation of falsified reports. In this case, no witness has testified that I facilitated any payouts,” Alcantara’s supposed affidavit read.
In September, Alcantara disclosed during a Senate hearing the budget insertions and alleged kickbacks involving Villanueva and Senator Jinggoy Estrada, former senator Bong Revilla Jr., and resigned Ako Bicol party-list Rep. Zaldy Co.
“The counter-affidavit of Henry Alcantara, he submitted also last Monday (January 5), says a lot. Number 1, just to be quick about this, he says that Engineers (Brice) Hernandez and (Jaypee) Mendoza are the ones responsible for the execution of flood control projects. And two, he was not the one directly overseeing the day-to-day operations of the projects, again pointing to the two Engineers Hernandez and Mendoza,” Esguerra said during the television interview.
“Moreover, and this is very telling as far as we are concerned, according to him, there has been no witness that he facilitated any payout… he is in effect negating, virtually negating, what he said that he did the payout,” Esguerra added.
Alcantara previously told the Senate that flood control project proponents get as much as 25 to 30 percent of the proposed insertions.
Alcantara has since turned over a total of P110 million in cash that he admitted to illegally obtaining from flood control projects.
Editor’s Note: This is an updated article. Originally posted with the headline: “DOJ: ‘No official recantation by Alcantara’”
