Philippine Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson has laid out serious allegations against a group of former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) engineers, whom he referred to as the “BGC Boys” or Bulacan Group of Contractors. In a privilege speech, Lacson claimed the group suffered gambling losses amounting to more than PHP950 million across 13 casinos located in Metro Manila, Cebu, and Pampanga.

Casino Transactions Exceeding a Billion Pesos

“Based on the documents we obtained from Pagcor, the casino losses of these five individuals are staggering — totaling P950 million in gross losses,” Lacson stated, pointing to official and validated casino records.

The individuals named included District Engineer Henry Alcantara, along with Assistant Engineers Brice Hernandez, Jaypee Mendoza, Arjay Domasig, and Edrick San Diego. Many of them allegedly used false identities while gambling, with Hernandez and Mendoza recording the highest losses at PHP435 million and PHP418 million, respectively. Alcantara’s records showed losses of PHP36.7 million under an alias, while Domasig and San Diego lost PHP16.9 million and PHP42.4 million, respectively.

Beyond losses, the total transaction volume connected to these men was reportedly even larger. Lacson cited figures showing Alcantara alone converted PHP1.42 billion in cash to chips from 2023 to 2025, recovering nearly PHP998 million back into cash. Hernandez’s transactions showed PHP659.9 million converted into chips and PHP1.38 billion converted back to cash.

“Yes, you heard it right, B as in billion,” Lacson emphasized, as reported by JIJI Press.

The Philippine Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) has since confirmed it will investigate casinos connected to these allegations. AMLC executive director Matthew David explained on the GMA program 24 Oras that penalties may be imposed depending on violations found during the probe. “There is a corresponding penalty under our rules on administrative cases against covered persons. There’s a table of penalties for that, depending on the possible violation we find,” he said.

Casinos in the Philippines have been classified as “covered persons” since 2017, meaning they are required to report any transaction exceeding PHP5 million, verify customer identities, and keep detailed records for at least five years. The AMLC investigation will focus on whether these obligations were properly met and whether casino staff failed to identify suspicious activities.

Lacson also criticized casinos for allowing large conversions of cash to chips and back again without flagging the activity to regulators. He alleged that some of the engineers used multiple government IDs and false names, making it difficult to track the transactions.

Alleged Corruption in Flood Control Projects

The scandal goes beyond casino floors. According to Lacson, the engineers’ activities are tied to irregularities in DPWH flood control projects in Bulacan. He described manipulated bidding processes, fabricated progress reports, and falsified documents. “These are not clerical errors; these are fingerprints of a system perfected over the years to pocket billions of funds,” he said.

One example he cited involved a PHP92.58 million river project in Barangay Perez, Bulacan. Despite being awarded in mid-December 2024, the contractor claimed nearly half completion within two days and billed almost 50% of the project cost. By March 2025, government payments had continued, yet inspectors found little to no actual progress. Another company, IM Construction Corporation, allegedly submitted duplicate photos in progress reports to justify repeated payments.

Lacson also claimed Wawao Builders appeared to know in advance that it would secure contracts for projects in Calumpit, Bulacan, and reported 50% completion within just a week.

He warned that the misuse of public funds had left communities in Bulacan exposed to ongoing flooding. “In summary, while the people of Bulacan remain submerged in floodwaters due to the corruption of these individuals — and despite the President himself exposing the wrongdoing — the BGC Boys continue to indulge themselves, wasting the people’s money without remorse,” Lacson declared.

The scandal has resonated nationally, raising concerns over corruption, financial crime, and regulatory oversight in the casino sector. Documents allegedly point to suspicious funding patterns, with rapid disbursements from the Department of Budget and Management preceding spikes in casino betting by the same group of officials. Lifestyle checks also suggested that some of them had acquired luxury cars and farmland despite modest government salaries.

The AMLC’s ongoing probe will determine whether casinos failed to uphold anti-money laundering safeguards and could result in sanctions against operators. Meanwhile, the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee continues to investigate the DPWH projects at the heart of the allegations, underscoring broader concerns about the misuse of state funds and the weaknesses of financial oversight mechanisms in the Philippines.