Former DPWH engineer claims senators Jinggoy Estrada, Joel Villanueva involved in kickbacks in flood control projects
A former DPWH engineer named senators with alleged involvement in flood control corruption on Tuesday, Sept. 9.
At the House inquiry into the alleged anomalous flood control projects, Brice Hernandez linked Sen. Jinggoy Estrada and Sen. Joel Villanueva in alleged kickback schemes along with former DPWH 1st District Engineer Henry Alcantara and Usec. Robert Bernardo.
According to Hernandez, some DPWH engineers served as "bagmen" for some corrupt lawmakers.
“Si Senator Jinggoy po ay nagbaba ng P355 million ngayong 2025 sa mga ilang projects sa Bulacan. Ang sabi po ng boss ko dito ay 30% ang commitment dito,” the ex-DPWH exec claimed. "Binigay din ito nang lumabas sa GAA at dinelivet sa bahay niya sa Bocaue ni DE Alcantara at dating hepe ng aming contruction, si Engineer JP Mendoza."
"Noong 2023 naman, naglabas ng P600 million si Senator Joel Villanueva at ang SOP nito ay 30% din," he added.
Hernandez accused Alcantara of being the "chief implementor" who gets in touch with corrupt officials and receives a portion of the costs of the projects in return.
Tagged politicians deny corruption allegations
In a statement, Estrada said he "categorically and vehemently" denies the claims made by Hernandez.
"I challenge him. Let us take a lie detector test before the public para malaman ng lahat kung sino ang nagsasabi ng totoo. Talk is cheap—handa akong patunayan na pawang mga kasinungalingan ang sinasabi nya tungkol sa akin," he continued.
Villanueva spoke out on Hernandez's allegations at the Senate later in the day, stressing that he has never had any flood control project. "Hindi ko po sasabihin na I categorically deny this accusation dahil po may resibo tayo. Mayroon pong pwedeng iberipika kung bakit ito nangyayari."
"Tayo po ay more than willing mag-undergo at sumali sa anumang imbestigasyon sapagkat wala po tayong tinatago," he noted.
"I will never betray my principle," Villanueva said, turning emotional. "I will never ever destroy the name that was given to me by my parents, Mr. President, because it's priceless, Mr. President."
"I will not be destructed by lies, and instead I affirm my commitment to the work that truly matters: serving our people with honesty and integrity," he continued.
Alcantara denied the corruption accusations against him.
"Hindi po totoo ‘yan na ako ay nagdedeliver sa mga politiko," he said.
"Si Senator Joel, 2023, wala pong project na flood control si Senator Joel ever since," he continued, adding that he's not friends with Estrada to begin with.
This comes a day after top government contractors Sarah and Curlee Discaya accused several congressmen and officials of being involved in the flood control anomalies, claiming that they were forced by the latter to join such initiatives. The Discayas alleged that some lawmakers got a kickback ranging from 10% to 25% in projects.
Massive flooding in July
The issue in the government's flood control projects began in July as the rains triggered massive flooding in the metro.
Economist JC Punongbayan, in a Facebook post, questioned why flooding persists despite having billions of pesos in flood control allocations over the years.
Using data from the Department of Budget and Management, he shared a graph showing the steadily increasing flood control allocations: P141.6 billion in 2021, P209.9 billion in 2022, P282.5 billion in 2023, and P351.3 billion in 2024. This year’s allocation stands at P349.4 billion and, despite being less than the previous year’s allocation, Punongbayan noted it’s still roughly a third of the national infrastructure budget.
“Bakit grabe pa rin ang baha?” he asked. “Bakit parang hindi ramdam ang pagbuhos ng budget sa flood control systems?”
At the time, Sen. Ping Lacson told dzBB that since 2011, about P1 trillion allocated for flood control projects may have been lost to corruption.
Adding to the national attention and outrage over the anomalies was how internet users noticed several children of politicians and contractors, branding them as "nepo babies," who flex their designer clothing and fly to different countries in seemingly unapologetic fashion—and even vlogging about their comforts.
The matter has become so alarming that many celebrities and personalities have decided to speak up.
