Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo “Ping” Lacson has issued a statement against five so-called “BGC Boys” – district engineers and contractors who allegedly funneled kickbacks from flood control projects to casinos. Lacson said he will ask the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) to freeze their assets.
Lacson named Henry Alcantara, Brice Ericson Hernandez, Jaypee Mendoza, Arjay Domasig, and contractor Edrick San Diego as using fake IDs and aliases to gamble. Instead of actually playing, their tactic was to convert money into chips, lose a little, and immediately cash out to make the kickbacks appear as casino winnings.
Based on casino records from 2023 to 2025, Alcantara exchanged nearly ₱1.4 billion in cash for chips and cashed out ₱997.8 million. Hernandez exchanged ₱659.9 million in cash and cashed out nearly ₱1.38 billion. Mendoza, on the other hand, exchanged ₱26.5 million but withdrew ₱280 million. The group's total loss in 13 casinos in Metro Manila, Cebu, and Pampanga reached more than ₱950 million.
Lacson added that while the people of Bulacan are drowning in floods due to ghost projects, the said officials are still enjoying the casino. He called them “shameless and without conscience.”
Lacson also revealed that several families of prominent officials such as Maglanque, Bernardo, and Bonoan, who hold large contracts in flood control projects and businesses in Clark, are connected to this.
