DPWH Whistleblower Drops Bomb on Senators Over ₱ Billions in Flood Control Scam

MANILA – A detained engineer has blown the lid off what he claims is a massive flood control racket in Bulacan, dragging senators, a DPWH undersecretary, and district engineers into the muck.

Former DPWH Assistant Engineer Bryce Hernandez, after being jailed by the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, stunned lawmakers at the House hearing when he named names.

“Senator Jinggoy Estrada, Senator Joel Villanueva, Usec. Robert Bernardo, and DE Alcantara,” Hernandez declared, accusing them of pocketing millions in kickbacks from flood projects.

Hernandez alleged that Estrada funneled ₱355 million this year for Bulacan projects with a 30% cut, while Villanueva supposedly dropped ₱600 million in 2023 with the same “SOP.”

The projects? Flood mitigating structures, pumping stations, and floodgates that Hernandez branded as failures. He even flashed a video blasting the government’s botched flood control program—criticized later by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. himself.

But the senators fired back—hard.

• Villanueva denied everything, saying: “Like a broken record, I have no flood control projects. We have receipts to prove it.”

• Estrada, fuming, vowed to sue Hernandez, calling him a liar with “evil intentions.” He suspects the whistleblower is just retaliating because Estrada had him cited in contempt and jailed.

  
  

Tempers flared as Estrada admitted he cursed in anger: “Common sense—would I sit in that hearing if I was guilty? Never! I’ve done nothing illegal.”

With billions of pesos at stake and rival camps trading accusations, the scandal is exploding into one of the most sensational corruption sagas in recent years—pitting senators against an insider who says he’s ready to spill even more secrets once lawyers get involved.

The flood scandal is swelling fast—and it’s already drowning reputations.