September 10, 2025 | Manila
Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson revealed on Tuesday that several former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) officials allegedly tied to anomalous flood-control projects also lost staggering amounts of public money in casinos.
In a privilege speech during the Senate session, Lacson said five individuals — Henry Alcantara, Brice Hernandez, Jaypee Mendoza, Arjay Domasig, and Edrick San Diego — whom he referred to as the “BGC Bulacan Group of Contractors Boys”, were found to have lost a combined ₱950 million in gambling activities, with total casino transactions exceeding ₱1 billion between 2023 and 2025.
Massive Casino Losses
Citing official data from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor), Lacson detailed that Hernandez incurred the biggest losses, totaling ₱435 million under the alias Marvin Santos de Guzman. Mendoza followed with ₱418 million in losses under the name Peejay Castro Asuncion.
Alcantara, meanwhile, recorded ₱68,000 in losses under his real identity but reached ₱36.7 million in losses using a fake ID. Domasig, using the alias Sandro Bernardo Park, lost ₱16.9 million, while San Diego incurred ₱42.4 million in losses.
In terms of transaction volumes, Alcantara converted over ₱1.42 billion in cash to chips during the two-year period and exchanged nearly ₱998 million back to cash. Hernandez, on the other hand, exchanged ₱659 million into chips and converted ₱1.38 billion back into cash.
“These figures are staggering — officially recorded and validated across 13 casinos nationwide,” Lacson stressed.
AMLA Involvement and Ongoing Casino Visits
Lacson said his office has forwarded the names and aliases of the group to the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC), noting that casinos are subject to oversight under the country’s anti-money laundering law.
Despite ongoing probes into questionable flood-control projects, Lacson reported that some of the officials continued to frequent casinos. Hernandez was last seen inside a casino on September 1, 2025, even as the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee was investigating the matter.
Rigged Projects and Fake Reports
Beyond the gambling trail, Lacson also disclosed documents suggesting systemic corruption in DPWH projects. His office uncovered manipulated bidding results, falsified progress reports, and padded project costs.
One cited case involved a ₱92.58-million river project in Bulacan, which was awarded in December 2024 and immediately issued a notice to proceed. Just days later, the contractor billed nearly half the project cost and claimed 46% completion. By March 2025, progress reports claimed nearly 90% completion, but Lacson’s team found the site unchanged since December.
Another contractor, IM Construction, was reportedly paid multiple times for a ₱92.5-million floodgate and pumping station, submitting duplicate photos in its reports. Meanwhile, Wawao Builders allegedly had prior knowledge of contract awards for two projects in Calumpit, Bulacan before bidding results were announced.
“System Perfected Over the Years”
“These are not mere clerical errors. These are fingerprints of a system perfected over the years to siphon off billions in public funds,” Lacson declared.
He criticized the officials for continuing to indulge in gambling while communities in Bulacan remain under floodwaters, underscoring how corruption in infrastructure projects directly harms the public.
