THE PLOT of the flood control fiasco thickens, with no less than President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. already linked to questionable funding insertions in this year’s national budget by a former ally accused of benefiting from substandard and “ghost” projects.
Marcos Jr. deemed the allegation to be not worthy of his comment, but his supporters and critics continue to trade barbs over the issue, which stemmed from his order to probe and expose those who enriched themselves at the expense of flood-prone communities.
What started as a directive during Marcos Jr.’s State of the Nation Address to look into substandard and non-existent projects has erupted into a nationwide hunt for anyone involved in the systematic misuse of public funds.
Whistleblowers, audit reports and over 20,000 citizen complaints through the Sumbong sa Pangulo portal revealed that several flood control structures across the country were overpriced, substandard or were never built at all.
The ongoing investigation has exposed a system of fraudulent schemes spanning Congress, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and private sector, a scheme that funnels billions of taxpayer money into anomalous projects that serve as conduit for kickbacks, bribery, and political favoritism.
The public watched as lawmakers, contractors, and government engineers profess innocence and point fingers at one another during televised Senate hearings.
As the nation awaits the next plot twist, the spotlight remains on at least nine alumni of UST who stand at the center of the national drama, which has spawned resignations, triggered leadership changes, stirred mass actions and strained alliances.
Elizaldy Co
At the forefront of the scandal is Thomasian alumnus and resigned Ako Bicol partylist representative Elizaldy Co, who allegedly pushed for 426 flood control projects from 2022 to 2025 worth P35 billion.
Co, the erstwhile chairman of the House appropriations committee, the panel responsible for the national budget, is accused of seeking a 20 to 25% share from each project in exchange for securing their allocation by former DPWH Bulacan first district engineer Henry Alcantara and assistant district engineer Brice Hernandez.
According to the Department of Justice, extradition and Interpol intervention are looming for the long-time businessman as he refuses to return to the country to face the investigation because he fears for his safety.
Co recently released a video tagging Marcos Jr. and his cousin former House Speaker Martin Romualdez in questionable project insertions in this year’s national budget.
He alleged that Marcos, through Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman, ordered him to insert roughly P100 billion in projects into the 2025 budget, and that Romualdez later instructed him to remain outside the country.
Malacañang branded the accusations as baseless and “pure name-dropping,” with Palace press officer Claire Castro, another UST alumna, dismissing them as a diversionary tactic.
Co earned his master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Santo Tomas in Legazpi, formerly known as Aquinas University.
Joel Villanueva
Former Growling Tiger Sen. Joel Villanueva is drawing flak for allegedly endorsing P600 million worth of flood control projects in Balagtas, Bulacan.
According to Hernandez, the projects were tied to a 30% “SOP” (standard operating procedure), a term referring to kickbacks.
Villanueva has denied the allegations, saying the funds were legitimate and form part of unprogrammed allocations.
The senator is a graduate of the College of Commerce in Business Administration, major in Economics, and a former player for the Tigers during the UAAP Seasons 56 and 57.
Henry Alcantara
A civil engineering alumnus, dismissed DPWH engineer Henry Alcantara figured prominently during Senate inquiries when he implicated several high-profile officials, who are said to be the “proponents” of the flood control bribery scheme.
In his sworn affidavit before the Blue Ribbon Committee, Alcantra claimed to have personally delivered P150 million to Villanueva at a resthouse in Bulacan and prepared a list of projects worth P355 million for Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, who supposedly received a 25% cut. He added that budget insertions amounting to P300 million in 2024 were intended for former senator Bong Revilla.
Alcantara was recently tagged by his former subordinates, ex-DPWH engineers Hernandez and Jaypee Mendoza, as the mastermind behind the entire operation, alongside his chief of staff and three other Bulacan lawmakers.
The Bureau of Internal Revenue has filed tax evasion charges against Alcantara, Hernandez and Mendoza, who are collectively called the “BGC boys (Bulacan group of contractors).”
The Thomasian engineer is now perpetually banned from holding public office as a result of the DPWH’s guilty ruling in the administrative cases filed against him. The agency cited the findings of misconduct related to the anomalous flood control projects when it issued the ruling.
Eleandro Jesus “Budoy” Madrona
A former Thomasian student and lone-district representative of Romblon, Eleandro Madrona was named by beleaguered contractors Pacifcio “Curlee” and Cezarah “Sarah” Discaya as among the lawmakers who allegedly received 10% to 25% kickbacks from project funds in exchange for approval and execution. The couple later submitted two documents with the list of alleged recipients of kickbacks, which only contained representatives Roman Romulo, Marvin Rillo, Dean Asistio, Patrick Vargad, Marvin Co-Pilar and Jojo Ang.
Madrona, who holds a degree in Philosophy, has denied receiving any payments, adding that he did not award any project to the Discaya firms. He even vowed to resign if he is proven to have committed a wrongdoing.
Eric Yap
Architecture graduate Eric Go Yap, who serves as the lone district representative of Benguet, was accused of delivering 46 suitcases containing money to Co’s residence in Pasig City.
Yap denied the claims made by Co’s security consultant, saying he had no involvement in the kickbacks.
He was also tagged as a “person of interest” by Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla for a fully paid yet unfinished project in La Union implemented by Silverwolves Construction. According to Remulla, Yap is known as the “beneficial owner” of the company.
Joel Chua
The chairperson of the House Committee on Good Governance and Public Accountability, a panel probing the flood control anomalies, is also a Thomasian.
Manila 3rd District Rep. Joel Chua said the flood control scam was “nothing new” since the alleged budget insertions trace back to the Duterte administration, when delayed, substandard or unimplemented projects supposedly proliferated.
Chua, a graduate of the College of Accountancy, also co-chairs the House Committee on Infrastructure.
Alfonso Umali Jr.
Alfonso Villar Umali Jr, a graduate of the College of Architecture, is the representative of Oriental Mindoro’s second district, where several flood-control projects have collapsed.
Nine dikes built between 2023 and 2025 in areas like Bongabong and Naunjun, Oriental Mindoro were found to be substandard and possibly overpriced.
Umali denied involvement in corruption schemes, explaining that the projects were handled by the DPWH regional office, not by him.
Bojie Dy
House speaker Faustino “Bojie” Dy III, a graduate of the College of Economics, succeeded Martin Romualdez, who stepped down from the chamber’s leadership following corruption allegations against him and other lawmakers.
Dy, a representative of Isabela, said he wanted to turn over the investigation of the flood control anomalies to the newly-formed Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI). He also claimed that Filipinos no longer trust the process of the Infrastructure Development Committee under the National Economic and Development Authority (now Department of Economy, Planning, and Development).
Nilo Divina
Artlets alumnus and UST Faculty of Civil Law Dean Nilo Divina became involved in the controversy recently when his law firm rejected the corruption allegations raised against Sen. Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr.
The law firm released a statement on behalf of Revilla denying the accusations and emphasizing his willingness to cooperate with any investigation.
Divina, a Behavioral Science graduate, is the founder of Divina Law, a full-service Philippine law firm handling various cases, including corporate, labor, civil, and infrastructure matters.
What’s next?
On Sept. 29, hundreds of Thomasians walked out of their classrooms in a historic protest against corruption at the Plaza Mayor despite heavy rain. It was the UST’s first university-wide walkout in over two decades. Organized by the Central Student Council (CSC), the protest was a direct response to the flood control scandal.
READ: Thomasians stage mass walkout to protest widespread corruption
The walkout was followed by a solidarity night on Oct. 3, where faculty, students, alumni and administrators gathered to condemn corruption and call for accountability. In a chance interview during the event, Office for Student Affairs chief Asst. Prof. Jaezamie Ong affirmed the administration’s support for future actions against corruption, as long as they do not threaten the safety of students.
READ: UST open to joining future anti-corruption protests
A few weeks before the student walkout, the UST, located in one of Manila’s most flood-prone areas, also issued its first official statement (When The Waters Rise, So Must We) condemning the anomalies. It described the scandal as a “betrayal of public trust, a deep injustice to the poor, and a theft from those in most need,” urging Thomasians to speak out and build a generation that denounces corruption.
The Arts and Letters Faculty Association (ALFA), which represents 275 UST educators, also joined calls for truth and accountability, emphasizing that staying silent in the face of injustice amounts to complicity.
As investigations unfold and public pressure mounts, the Thomasians embroiled in the volatile scandal face an uncertainty that will define the country’s justice system.
The Office of the Ombudsman has begun filing graft and malversation charges against several officials, while the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee and ICI continue to unearth systemic corruption in flood control projects.
In just three months, the crackdown has snowballed into an aggressive anti-corruption drive, with 9,855 flood-control projects audited nationwide, according to data released by Malacañang. Of the 8,329 physically validated, 735 were proven non-existent, 84 are non-operational and 191 are ineffective.
Indicted before the ombudsman are 485 individuals, public officials and private contractors alike, while nine contractors linked to Sarah Discaya have also been blacklisted.
Yet beyond the hearings and press statements, another reckoning is taking place within the walls of España.
There have been calls for UST to reflect on whether it has done enough to instill the values it upholds in its students. Others view it as an opportunity for the University to demonstrate its fidelity to its core values of compassion, competence and commitment
Although widely perceived to be silent on some political issues, the Thomasian community has shown that it is unwilling to stay silent in the face of injustices and malfeasance despite its connection to some of those under scrutiny.
What remains to be seen is whether this real-life drama of deceit and broken promises will become a true catalyst for introspection and lasting reforms. F
EDITOR’S NOTE: The article was updated to remove the entry on Alice Eduardo, who was mentioned in a 2013 investigative report about campaign donors tied to companies that are government contractors but has not been linked to the flood control projects mess. We regret the oversight and we thank our readers who raised the matter to our editors and adviser.
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