By By Juliane Judilla
ILOILO CITY, Philippines — Amlig Antique, an alliance of civil society and people’s organizations, together with citizens’ watchdog group Kahublagan Kontra Kurapsyon (KKK), filed three additional complaints before the Office of the Ombudsman Regional Office VI in Iloilo City on Friday, Aug. 7, targeting Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Region VI infrastructure contracts in Antique worth a combined ₱670 million.
The latest complaints come three weeks after the groups filed five criminal and administrative complaints before the Office of the Ombudsman on July 16, 2026.
The new complaints also name Uswag Ilonggo Rep. James A. Ang Jr. in connection with projects undertaken by the A.M. Oreta & Co./Allencon Development Corporation Joint Venture, along with responsible regional directors and other officials of DPWH Region VI and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources–Environmental Management Bureau (DENR-EMB) Region VI, as well as members of the boards of directors of the contractor corporations.
According to the complaints, the respondents, acting within their respective official functions, allegedly permitted or facilitated the implementation of public infrastructure projects despite the absence—or subsequent revocation—of mandatory environmental clearances and other legal requirements.
One complaint concerns the ₱349.8-million Panay East-West Road project in Valderrama. Awarded to the A.M. Oreta & Co./Allencon Development Corporation Joint Venture, the project allegedly proceeded without a feasibility study, forestland permits, local government endorsements, or documented geohazard assessments. The Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) was reportedly issued only two years after construction had begun and was later revoked on Oct. 17, 2025, following the documentation of what the complainants described as severe environmental damage.
A second complaint focuses on Phase 3 of the Pandan-Ibajay Road, a ₱115.8-million contract undertaken by International Builders Corp. (IBC). The complainants allege that despite requiring massive earthworks involving the excavation of more than 535,000 cubic meters of soil, the project proceeded without feasibility studies, geohazard assessments, or local council approvals. They also claim the contractor operated without the required Special Land Use Permit throughout construction, filing an application only three years after completing the road. This allegedly prompted regulators to issue a Cease and Desist Order on April 14, 2026.
The third complaint targets the ₱204.5-million San Jose Coastal Road and Seawall-Esplanade Project, also awarded to the A.M. Oreta/Allencon Joint Venture. Petitioners allege that neither an ECC nor the required foreshore development permits were secured before construction. They further claim that a feasibility study was conducted four years after the contract had already been awarded, which they say reflects broader regulatory failures, noting that nearly half of the 23 contracts under the overall infrastructure program allegedly lacked valid environmental clearances.
“This is not a legal exercise. This is a people’s uprising on paper—concrete, firm, and borne of genuine anger and deep distrust toward a government that spent billions of pesos on roads and seawalls in the mountains and coastlines of Antique without a single required environmental permit, without a feasibility study, and without asking the communities whose rivers, farmlands, and livelihoods paid the price,” Amlig Antique said in a statement.
“The people of Antique are demanding that this system of impunity is never repeated,” the group added.
Inday Loren’s ‘silence’
The group also criticized Sen. Loren Legarda, pointing to what it described as a stark contrast between the senator’s public image as an environmental advocate and her silence over what it called the worsening environmental degradation in Antique.
The complaints identify Legarda as the principal political figure behind the substantial increase in infrastructure funding for the province. According to the group, during her terms as Senate Finance Committee chairperson, deputy speaker, and now senator, Legarda secured and expanded funding for projects such as the Panay East-West Road and the San Jose Coastal Road, making Antique a major recipient of DPWH infrastructure allocations.
Despite securing funding for these projects, the group said Legarda has remained silent even as regulators issued Cease and Desist Orders, revoked Environmental Compliance Certificates, and identified the alleged absence of mandatory environmental permits in several multimillion-peso contracts.
Activists and local residents, the group said, have questioned what they describe as the irony of a globally recognized climate advocate remaining silent while infrastructure projects she supported allegedly resulted in deforestation, heavy siltation of rivers, and flooding of agricultural lands.
“The senator has built her public image on being the Philippines’ most prominent champion of climate action. Yet when the roads she championed bulldozed trees into creeks, buried rivers under silt, and flooded the farms of the communities she claims to serve, she said nothing,” the statement said.
The “real” motive
Amlig also alleged that three major road projects were designed primarily to provide access to prospective mining operations within the Central Panay Mountain Range rather than solely improve transportation.
According to the group, the road alignments overlap with existing and pending mining exploration applications, posing risks to a critical watershed and biodiversity area that supports the four provinces of Panay.
The group said the issue extends beyond alleged irregularities in individual infrastructure projects and called for institutional reforms to ensure that future government infrastructure projects comply with environmental laws and public consultation requirements.
To date, Amlig has filed a total of eight complaints and has urged the Office of the Ombudsman, the Commission on Audit (COA), the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to investigate the projects, enforce environmental regulations, audit the use of public funds, and release all budget documents related to the three road programs.
