Several senators, House members have ties to gov't contractors

Several senators and members of the House of Representatives have ties to government contracting companies, according to a Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism study that GMA Integrated News Research also looked into.

According to Sandra Aguinaldo's report on "24 Oras," Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero, and Senators Joel Villanueva and Christopher “Bong” Go were found to have connections with contractors based on the PCIJ’s findings. 

Escudero already admitted that Lawrence Lubiano, president of Centerways Construction and Development Inc., had donated P30 million to his senatorial campaign in 2022. This was declared by the Senate President in his Statement of Contributions and Expenditures (SOCE).

Lubiano was one of the 15 firms identified by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. that cornered 20% of contracts for flood control projects. 

Escudero has denied that he intervened in any contract with the government. Lubiano said that his monetary donation to the Senate President’s campaign was personal and didn't come from the company. 

Villanueva also declared in his SOCE the P20 million donation by the New San Jose Builders Inc. to his senatorial bid in 2022. The senator has also denied being involved in flood control projects, adding that he had exposed such anomalies related to the program, a few years back. 

He also said that the New San Jose Builders had no existing contracts with the government when they made the donation. However, the PCIJ report said that the contractor secured a contract with the government at that time. 

Go is being linked to his father’s CLTG Builders and his half-brother’s Alfrego Builders. But the senator said that he has nothing to do with the operations of his family’s businesses. 

He went on to say that he would propose that they be held liable if they had contractual deficiencies or shortcomings.

Based on the Sumbong sa Pangulo website, the CLTG Builders has no listed flood control projects while the Alfrego Builders had five projects with the government amounting to more than P327 million overall. 

Further, the PCIJ findings also showed that 15 congressmen from the House of Representatives have ties with contractors. 

Among them is former House Appropriations Committee chair Rep. Zaldy Co, who is a co-founder of Sunwest Construction and Development Corporation. However, he said that he has already divested from the firm. 

Two of Co’s siblings were also found to be officials of two other contractors - Hi-Tone Construction and Development Corporation and FS Co Builders and Supply. Both Sunwest and Hi-Tone were among the 15 contractors earlier named by Marcos. 

GMA Integrated News tried to reach out to Co’s office for a new comment, but they have to respond. 

Some congressmen named in the PCIJ report are still serving as officials of some construction companies: Magbubukid Party-list Rep. Ferdinand Beltran, who is the manager of Ferdstar Builders Contractors; Pusong Pinoy Party-list Rep. Jernie Jett Nisay, the general manager of JVN Construction and Trading; and Albay 2nd district Rep. Carlos Loria, the president of Makapa Corporation. 

Meanwhile, the C.M. Pancho Construction, Inc. is owned by the family of Bulacan 2nd district Rep. Augustina Pancho. Likewise, the family of Pampanga 3rd district Rep. Michaela Gonzales also the A.D. Gonzales Jr. Construction and Trading Company, Inc. 

Moreover, other congressmen have relatives who serve as officials of firms with contracts with the government.

Among them are CWS Party-list Rep. Edwin Gardiola, who is related to some of the top shareholders of Newington Builders, Lourel Development Corp., and S-Ang General Construction and Trading; and Kapuso PM Party-list Rep. Munir Arbison Jr., and Sulu 2nd district Rep. Munir Arbison, who are related to Ash-Shahid Arbison, the top shareholder in Nirrain Construction and Supply, Corp.

Cavite 2nd district Rep. Lani Mercado-Revilla’s sister-in-law, Rebecca Bautista Ocampo, is a top shareholder of Graia Construction Corporation. Ocampo is also the aunt of Cavite 1st district Rep. Jolo Revilla and Agimat Party-list Rep. Bryan Revilla. 

Kalinga Rep. Caroline Agyao's brother-in-law Bond Holdern Capuyan Mangaoang is the manager of BHM Construction.

The father of 1-Rider Party-list Rep. Ramon Rodrigo Gutierrez is the general manager of Alro Construction and Development Corp. 

Tarlac 2nd district Rep. Cristina Angeles, on the other hand, is the wife of the vice president of Northern Builders Construction Corporation. 

Angeles' office said she instructed their accountant to divest her of any share in the corporation. It added that the NBCC was still in the pre-operational stage and had yet to participate in any bidding.

The office said NBCC was the Northern Builders Construction and Supply established by her husband 39 years ago. It became a corporation only in 2023.

GMA Integrated News is trying to reach out to the other House members. 

Maria Fe Mendoza, former dean of UP Diliman’s National College for Public Administration and Governance, said that it is very important to investigate the flood control project that was allegedly used for the personal gains of the lawmakers. 

“Twenty percent ng ating budget ay napupunta sa bribery, napupunta sa mga pultikong gumagamit ng pera ng bayan para sa kanilang sariling interes. So ang ano doon, ang daming nawawalang pera, ayun nga hindi napupunta sa public services,” she said. 

(Twenty percent of our budget goes to bribery, it goes to politicians who use public funds for their own interests. So what happens is, a lot of money is lost, and it doesn't go to public services.)

“Talaga titipirin mo, ang gagawin mo kukuha ka ng mga pinakamura, pinaka-substandard para ma-deliver mo yung project. So nakakalungkot yun kasi walang quality.” 

(You'll get the cheapest, most substandard things just to deliver the project. That's sad because there's no quality.) 

“Dapat talaga mayroong tiwala lahat ng tao sa gobyerno at sa mga institusyon nito. Madali siyang ma-sustain kung maraming magsusumbong. Pero kung magsusumbong lang, dapat mayroon siyang proseso para sa karampat na parusa o sanction o dapat na mangyari doon sa sumbong,” Mendoza also said. 

(The people should really have trust in the government and its institutions. It's easy to sustain if many people report wrongdoing. But it should not end with only reporting, there should be a process for the appropriate punishment or sanction, or the problem must be addressed.) –Vince Angelo Ferreras/NB, GMA Integrated News