Another shocking scandal erupts in the Philippines! Henry Alcantara, a former engineer of the First Engineering District in Bulacan Province, admitted during a Senate hearing that he used a fake identity and forged identity documents to enter a casino for high-stakes gambling.
Alcantara, who had previously attracted attention due to multiple flood control project fraud cases in Bulacan, entered the casino with two former colleagues, Brice Hernandez and Jaypee Mendoza, all under aliases: Alcantara called himself "Joseph Villegas," while the others used the names "Marvin Deguzman" and "Pidgey Asonson."
The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) revealed that just this year, bonuses worth 180 million pesos have been frozen due to civil servants gambling illegally. There was even a case where a legislator resigned after winning a 14 million peso prize to legally claim it, sparking widespread public scrutiny.
According to regulations, all Filipino civil servants are prohibited from gambling and entering casinos, but in reality, the ban is virtually ineffective. PAGCOR Chairman Tengco admitted that with the large number of civil servants, supervision is "overwhelmed," and winners need to undergo a secondary identity verification.
Henry Alcantara, previously exposed for signing false flood control project completion certificates, is now embroiled in a new scandal of sneaking into casinos under an alias, raising societal concerns about corruption and loss of control in the Philippine government's regulatory system.
