A TOTAL of 27 government contractors contributed to the campaign of several candidates in the 2022 elections, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) confirmed on Wednesday.
The confirmation came after the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) issued a certification confirming that the construction companies involved had ongoing government contracts at the time they made the donations.
‘Commissioner [Rey E.] Bulay immediately directed our Political Finance and Affairs Department to begin the process for the 27 firms certified by the DPWH as government contractors,’ Comelec Chairman George Erwin M. Garcia told reporters.
‘After we receive their explanations, we will also require the candidates who accepted contributions from these contractors to respond.’
Garcia said the Comelec will also release the full list of candidates-whether they won or lost-who received donations from these contractors.
‘Once we issue the show cause orders, we will also disclose to the public the reason for these orders and the names of the candidates who may have received contributions from the contractors,’ he said.
Garcia clarified, however, that being asked to explain does not automatically mean guilt.
‘We are still giving them the chance to respond. The candidates may have valid defenses.This is being done for purposes of transparency, and they should not be immediately judged as guilty,’ Garcia added.
He also said the Comelec is open to coordinating and sharing documents with the Independent Commission on Infrastructure (ICI) and the Office of the Ombudsman, which are conducting separate investigations into alleged anomalies involving flood-control projects.
‘These are public records. If another government agency such as the Ombudsman or even the [Bureau of Internal Revenue] is investigating possible tax violations or undeclared income, we will definitely share these documents with them,’ he said.
The Comelec has, likewise, submitted a list of 31 possible government contractors who donated during the 2025 midtem elections, pending DPWH’s confirmation on which of them currently hold government contracts.
Under Section 95 of the Omnibus Election Code, government contractors and suppliers are prohibited from making any contribution-directly or indirectly-to partisan political activities.
The same prohibition applies to financial institutions (except for legitimate loans), utilities, companies with government franchises or contracts, natural resource extractors, recipients of large government loans, publicly funded schools, civil service officials, members of the armed forces, and all foreigners or foreign corporations.
Both donors and recipients found guilty of violating the law face imprisonment of one to six years.
The 27 contractors identified by the DPWH include:
GP and H Construction Incorporated
Yunakim Construction
A.I.P. Construction
Centerways Construction and Development Inc.
11-16 Construction
Prismodial Construction and Development Corporation
Makiling Construction Ventures Corp.
Viking Construction and Supplies
DN’D Construction and Development
Octagon Concrete Solutions Inc.
Jozen Builders and Construction Supply Corporation
Aqualine Construction Corporation
R8 Asphalt Plant and Construction Inc.
EZJONES Construction Inc.
JELM Construction
MWJ Construction
XDR Construction and Supply
Viguz Construction Corporation
Everbuilt Construction
G.O.C. Builders
PAFJ Construction and Supply Inc.
A.L. Salazar Construction, Inc.
E.F. Chua Construction, Inc.
JWU Construction and Supply
D.G. Chico Trading and Construction
Gateway 21-25 Construction Corp.
Tagum Builders Contractors Corp.