Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Vince Dizon ordered the dismissal of former Bulacan first district engineer Henry Alcantara from service following the anomalous flood control projects in Bulacan.

“He is summary dismissed,” Dizon said in an interview during his inspection of a flood control project in Barangay Sipat, Plaridel, Bulacan.

Dizon said he will also ask the DPWH Legal Service to recommend the filing of charges against Alcantara with the Ombudsman next week.

“Next week, I will ask the DPWH Legal to recommend filing of appropriate charges against Henry Alcantara. Well, obviously, criminal ito. Pagnanakaw ito e, P100 million… We will recommend filing of charges with the Ombudsman,” Dizon said.

“So si Henry Alcantara dismissed and we will recommend filing of charges with the Ombudsman,” he added.

In a Senate hearing on Tuesday, Alcantara admitted that he issued a certificate of completion on the P55 million flood control project in Baliwag town, which turned out to be a ghost project.

Alcantara said he relied on his team’s inspection report.

“The attachment of the certificate of completion is based on the certificate of final inspection conducted by the team,” Alcantara said.

Alcantara also previously admitted that he used an alias and a fake ID to enter a casino despite government employees being prohibited from gambling under Administrative Code of 1987.

During his stint as 1st district engineer, Alcantara handled 13 localities in Bulacan including the flood-prone ones such as Hagonoy, Baliwag, Calumpit, and Malolos.

His office then had the largest project cost among the implementing offices of the DPWH. It has 450 flood control projects with a total cost of P28.9 billion from 2022 to 2025, according to data at the Sumbong ng Pangulo website.

Under Alcantara, the reinforced concrete river wall project in Barangay Piel in Baliwag was implemented by Syms Construction Trading. This is the same project that was found to be a ghost project.

Meanwhile, Dizon said the proceedings for the dismissal of Brice Hernandez and Jaypee Mendoza, who also served in the Bulacan district engineering office, are also set to start.