Rowegie Abanto

Bulacan Assistant District Engineer Brice Hernandez attends the congressional hearing on the alleged ghost flood control projects at the House of Representatives in Quezon City on Tuesday, September 9, 2025. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News

Article (news)

Bulacan Assistant District Engineer Brice Hernandez 

Jamaine Punzalan

ABS-CBN News

<div><br/></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jCcSFuu3CtE?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div><p>MANILA — All projects of the Department of Public Works and Highways in Bulacan First District were &quot;substandard&quot; or &quot;overpriced&quot; since 2019, a former government engineer said Tuesday.</p><p>At the Senate hearing on the flood control scandal, former Bulacan First District Assistant Engineer Brice Hernandez said every project under their watch did not meet the exact plan indicated on paper.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/9/23/henry-alcantara-tags-revilla-estrada-villanueva-co-in-budget-insertions-kickbacks-1041">Ex-DPWH official Henry Alcantara tags Revilla, Estrada, Villanueva, Co in budget insertions, kickbacks</a></div><p>When asked by Sen. Erwin Tulfo if their office was forced to produce substandard work to accommodate kickbacks and other obligations, Hernandez said, &quot;Nakakasigurado po ako na lahat po ng proyekto sa Bulacan First [District] substandard po.&quot;</p><p>(I am sure that all projects in Bulacan First were substandard.)</p><p>The projects included flood control structures, buildings, and classrooms, he said, adding that streetlights were &quot;overpriced.&quot; </p><p>Hernandez said substandard infrastructure began when former Bulacan First District Engineer Henry Alcantara led the district from 2019. </p><p>Former Public Works Secretary Manuel Bonoan told senators that it was the &quot;first time&quot; he heard about Hernandez&#x27;s claims.</p><p>He noted that under his watch, public works officials were supposed to submit monitoring reports.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>HERNANDEZ BACKS ALCANTARA&#x27;S ALLEGATIONS</strong></div><div><br/></div><p>In Tuesday&#x27;s hearing, Alcantara also tagged several senators and House members who were allegedly involved in budget insertions and the kickback scheme for infrastructure projects.</p><p>Alcantara accused <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/9/23/henry-alcantara-tags-revilla-estrada-villanueva-co-in-budget-insertions-kickbacks-1041">Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, Sen. Joel Villanueva, former Sen. Bong Revilla, Ako Bicol party-list Rep. Zaldy Co</a>, and former Caloocan Rep. Mitch Cajayon-Uy of receiving payoffs from their insertions in the national budget.</p><p>The lawmakers earlier denied the accusations. </p><p>Hernandez corroborated Alcantara&#x27;s remark, saying, &quot;Actually lahat po ng dini-deliver niya, kami nga po ang nag-aayos ng mga perang ito.&quot;</p><p>(Actually, we&#x27;re the ones handling all the money he delivers.)</p><p>&quot;Mayroon lang pong ilang tao na hindi niya nabanggit. Pero hindi ko po masabi &#x27;yun kasi baka kasuhan din po ako ng libel,&quot; Hernandez said.</p><p>(There are just some people he didn&#x27;t mention. But I can&#x27;t say who they are because I might also get sued for libel.)</p><p>At an earlier House hearing, Hernandez tagged Estrada and Villanueva in the flood control controversy, which they both denied.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>KICKBACKS IN SUITCASES? </strong></div><div><br/></div><p>Hernandez said he delivered money to Co&#x27;s supposed aide, a certain &quot;Paul.&quot;</p><p>&quot;Maraming maleta po ng pera &#x27;yun. Tingin ko po, bilyon &#x27;yun. [Sinakay namin] sa mga van po... mga anim o pitong van po ang gamit namin noon,&quot; he said.</p><p>(There were a lot of suitcases full of money. I think it was in the billions. We loaded them into vans… we used around six or seven vans at the time.)</p><p>&quot;Bukod po sa Shangri-La, nagdadala rin po kami sa Valle Verde,&quot; added Jaypee Mendoza, the former construction section chief of the province&#x27;s first district.</p><p>(Aside from Shangri-La, we were also delivering money to Valle Verde.)</p><p>Speaker Faustino Dy III has ordered Co to return to the Philippines to answer the allegations against him. </p><div> </div>

<p>All projects of the Department of Public Works and Highways in Bulacan First District were "substandard" or "overpriced" since 2019, a former government engineer said Tuesday.</p>

All projects of the Department of Public Works and Highways in Bulacan First District were "substandard" or "overpriced" since 2019, a former government engineer said Tuesday.

Ex-DPWH engineer says all projects in Bulacan First District 'substandard' since 2019

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Ex-DPWH engineer says all projects in Bulacan First District 'substandard' since 2019

Rowegie Abanto,

Jamaine Punzalan,

ABS-CBN News

Published Sep 23, 2025 11:35 AM PHT

Read More:

Brice Hernandez

DPWH

Senate Hearing

Flood Control

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