Henry Alcantara’s P110-million gesture is crumbs

IRIS GONZALES

- IRIS GONZALES

Bundles of cash turned over by ex-DPWH engineer Henry Alcantara filled a table — over P110 million, according to our justice authorities.

And there will be more, as the surrendered money merely represents the initial tranche.

The government needs to be reminded that this is a mere token amount because Alcantara, in case authorities forgot, had no qualms gambling away at least P150 million in a sprawling casino in Metro Manila.

That's from one night alone, as I first reported in a column last August. Later on, Sen. Panfilo Lacson revealed that on other nights, he, together with his cohort Brice Hernandez, lost over P300 million, also on casino tables.

As Lacson said, it was their way of laundering their loot — lose some, win more.

Alcantara, my sources attest, had long been addicted to casinos, perhaps even more so when the budget insertions kept getting bigger.

Authorities must also remember that in Alcantara’s district, the first district of Bulacan, ghost projects abound, as I previously wrote and as confirmed by Lacson’s privilege speeches.

So when authorities call the media to showcase Alcantara’s gesture, let them be reminded that this is just crumbs in his share from this so-called floodgate.

Lacson, in one of his bombshell speeches, said Alcantara had converted a total of P1.4 billion in cash to chips from 2023 to 2025 alone while converting P997 million from chips to cash, presumably in the same period.

“Yes, you heard it right, B as in billion,” Lacson said in September.