P334m from only 13 donors funded Duterte (2)

By Karol Ilagan
and Malou Mangahas
Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism

Conclusion

ANOTHER Davao City business bigwig who donated to Duterte’s presidential campaign–P30 million, in fact–is Samuel C. Uy. From the looks of it, however, Uy has not remained in Davao after the elections. Uy’s Facebook account photos show him posing with Duterte and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the Philippine President’s recent state visit to Tokyo, as well as with the President’s children, and with Special Assistant to the President Bong Go. One photo even shows Uy standing in front of the seal of the President of the Philippines, his hands resting comfortably on the presidential podium.

Uy is a stockholder in several companies, including Dimdi Centre Inc. and Dimdi Builders Center Inc., two government suppliers.

From January 2013 to October 2016, Dimdi Centre and Dimdi Builders Center had been awarded with government contracts worth a total of P2.7 million, Philgeps data show. Both companies are also on Philgeps’ list of registered suppliers as of Oct. 7, 2016.

Dimdi Centre and Dimdi Builders are both engaged in merchandising. They have supplied photocopying machines, air-conditioning units, television sets, and other appliances to various government offices in Davao. Among these are the regional offices of the Department of Agrarian Reform, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, Department of Science and Technology, Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp., and the City of Davao.

In 2015 and 2016, the City of Davao awarded Dimdi Centre with at least five contracts worth a total of P333,730, Philgeps data show. Duterte was Davao City mayor at the time.

Uy’s other business interests include the New Davao Matina Gallera, the “biggest cockpit arena in Davao City” located on MacArthur Highway in Matina district. It features, among others, arena-style seating, wide-screen scoreboards, air-conditioned cockhouse and cockpit, and livestream and satellite feed of the derbies. The cockpit’s derbies have drawn avid following among governors, mayors, and military and police officers.

In business with DU30

Uy and President Duterte, along with Lorenzo A. Te Jr., Azucena Angbue, Jan S. Ced, Eugenio O. Ced, Divino M. Tan II, Danilo D. Tan, and Jesus Y. Tan, are also stockholders of Honda Cars General Santos Inc.

Uy, Duterte, and Te are incorporators as well of Poeng Yue Foundation, along with James S. Gaisano, Josue G. Tesado Sr., Johnny Lee Ng, and Samuel G. Afdal.

Like Uy, Davao City businessman Te had given P30 million to Duterte’s campaign.

“Friend” in Mandarin, Poeng Yue was formed by Duterte and his business partners in 2012 to “extend assistance, financial or otherwise, to cancer patients with special focus on children suffering from said disease.”

Honda Cars General Santos City and Poeng Yue Foundation are two business interests Duterte has declared in his Statements of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (Saln). His Saln upon assuming the presidency or as of June 30, 2016 shows that he did not divest from these two entities.

Civil Service Commission Assistant Commissioner Ariel G. Ronquillo says the need to divest may not necessarily be automatic. First, he says, one has to determine whether or not there is a clear conflict as President of the Philippines and as incorporator of a company. According to Ronquillo, a conflict of interest may occur if a business is getting a permit or license from one’s office. “Naturally,” he says, “there is a conflict because you’re the one giving the license so you should not have any interest there.”

Government suppliers

But what about campaign donors who have companies that have business with government? Aside from contributions from Davao-based businessmen, the Duterte campaign had also accepted donations from those like Felix R. Ang, whose company later landed a deal with a state agency.

Ang donated P10 million to the Duterte campaign. He is an incorporator, stockholder, and chairman of Cats Asian Cars, which bagged a P1.24-million contract with the Social Security System for the supply and delivery of one brand new sedan in October 2016.

Yet another Duterte campaign contributor, Marcelino C. Mendoza, is president and stockholder of MGS Construction, which appears in Philgeps list of registered suppliers.

Mendoza, who donated P14.5 million to help finance Duterte’s presidential bid, is from Las Piñas. He is listed as well as incorporator, board member, and stockholder of Vista Land & Lifescapes Inc. Vista Land’s chairman is former senator Manuel B. Villar Jr. Its president and chief executive officer is Villar’s eldest child, Manuel Paolo. A week after he won the presidency, Duterte appointed Paolo’s brother Mark as Public Works and Highways Secretary.

Januario B. Ramos, meanwhile, donated P3 million to the Duterte campaign. Ramos is president, incorporator and stockholder of Pragmatic Development and Construction Corp., a registered contractor with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

Pragmatic’s website says the firm, formed in 1979, specializes in “roads, highways, pavement and bridges irrigation, and similar industrial projects,” but has recently branched out into real-estate development and property management.

According to DPWH’s online registry of awarded contracts, Pragmatic has won at least three contracts altogether worth P64.75 million from the DPWH Cebu City Engineering District Office from 2014 to the present. One was worth P38.06 million, for the widening of the Canduman-Cebu North Road from May 4, 2015 to March 11, 2016; another was valued at P18.33 million, for the widening of the Canduman North Road-Mandaue City from Feb. 5, 2014 to Oct. 18, 2016; and a third, P8.36 million, for the concreting of J. Luna Avenue-Cardinal Rosales Intersection from March 3, 2015 to March 3, 2017.

From 2001 to 2014, Pragmatic was also awarded P48.1 million worth of government contracts, almost all located in Cebu, according to Philgeps and DPWH databases.

The firm had also donated P280,000 in cash to the Bagumbayan-VNP party in the 2013 elections, according to PCIJ’s Soce database.

Mining concerns

Persons affiliated with firms that operate public utilities or those that possess or exploit the country’s natural resources are also among Duterte’s 10 biggest donors. These include Michael G. Regino, who contributed P14 million to Duterte’s campaign. SEC records filed in 2016 show that he is director and minor stockholder of TVI Resource Development Philippines Inc.

Interestingly, TVI Resource’s vice chairman is Manuel Paolo A. Villar. TVI Resource is the Philippine affiliate of TVI Pacific Inc., a publicly listed Canadian mining firm that is exploring, developing, and producing precious and base metals in the Philippines.

Mines and Geosciences Bureau data as of July 2016 show that TVI Resource holds a mineral production sharing agreement (MPSA) with the government and is applying for another MPSA and exploration permits in the Zamboanga Peninsula region.

According to TVI Resource’s website, Regino sits on the board and maintains top positions in other companies led by Prime Asset Ventures Inc. He is president of St. Augustine Services Inc., senior vice president of St. Augustine Mining Ltd., and board member of Nationwide Development Corp. and Kingking Mining Corp. In addition, Regino is president and minor stockholder of Agata Mining Ventures Inc. and Equipment Drilling Corp., which are both subsidiaries of TVI Resource.

Public utility

Then there are brothers Tomas and Nicasio I. Alcantara, who contributed a total of P30 million. Tomas and Nicasio are stockholders of Alsons Development and Investment Corp. and several other businesses.

Tomas is chairman and president of the Alsons Power Group, which is composed of power generation facilities across Mindanao. According to its website, Alsons Power Group operates three diesel-power facilities, one each in Alabel in Sarangani, Zamboanga City, and Iligan City. In April 2016, the group’s first coal-fired power plant located in Maasim, Sarangani started commercial operations.

Tomas is No. 41 on the 2016 Forbes list of the 50 richest Filipinos. The Alcantara family had also been included in previous Forbes lists of richest Filipinos.

Tomas and Nicasio Alcantara are stockholders as well in Alsons Consolidated Resources Inc., as is another Duterte campaign donor, Carlos G. Dominguez.

Dominguez, who donated P3 million, is also linked to yet another top Duterte donor, Bienvenido Tan, through PTFC Redevelopment Corp., a real estate company. Tan, who gave P20 million to Duterte, is president and stockholder of PTFC. Dominguez and his management firm CG Dominguez Associates Inc. are also stockholders of PTFC Redevelopment Corp..

Donors, appointees

Dominguez is now Finance Secretary in the Duterte administration. Aside from him, other Duterte campaign donors have wound up in government themselves.

For instance, Dennis A. Uy of Davao City was named presidential adviser for sports last July. The president and chief executive officer of Phoenix Petroleum, Uy and his wife Cherylyn gave a total of P31 million in cash to the Duterte campaign. Cherylyn also gave P5 million to PDP-Laban.

Similarly, Salvador Medialdea and wife Ma. Bertola donated a total of P1.5 million to Duterte. Medialdea is now Executive Secretary.

Ismael Sueno donated P21,600 in kind for “sound system rental and flat cord.” He was appointed secretary of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).

Bacolod-based lawyer Jesus V. Hinlo Jr. was also appointed by Duterte as DILG undersecretary. Hinlo donated a tarpaulin worth P576 to Duterte. This is one of two P576 donations the president received and also the lowest.

Hinlo was reported to be focusing on the DILG’s Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, Bureau of Fire Protection, national emergency hotlines 117 and 911, and the Public Safety College. (with research by Floreen Simon, Fern Felix, Vino Lucero, Davinci Maru, Ana Isabel Manalang, Steffi Sanchez, Jil Caro, and John Gabriel Agcaoili)