Uswag Ilonggo’s Ang profited from contractor boom

ILOILO CITY, Philippines – For nearly a year after taking office in 2022, Uswag Ilonggo Party-list Representative James “Jojo” Ang Jr. remained a co-owner of a family-run construction firm — a period that coincided with a sudden surge in government contracts for the company.

Corporate documents from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) show that Ang remained one of eight stockholders of Allencon Development Corporation from May 30, 2022 to March 29, 2023. 

These dates cover the period immediately following his assumption as the party list’s representative in the 19th Congress. Ang was elected in the May 9, 2022, and formally took office on June 30, 2022.

Documents show that Ang held a 5% share of the company, equivalent to P500,000 in subscribed capital. The same share percentage was held by several children of Alfonso “Don Ponso” Tan, Ang’s uncle. 

Tan himself owned the largest stake at 37.5%, while his wife held 32.5%. The firm’s leadership structure is dominated by the family: Alfonso serves as president, Alvin as vice president, Aileen as treasurer, and Aljun David as corporate secretary. Other siblings sit as directors.

Under the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act (Republic Act No. 3019) and the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees (Republic Act No. 6713), government officials are legally required to avoid conflicts of interest in the performance of their duties.

In RA 3019, public officials cannot be involved in government contracts, deals, or decisions that could benefit their own business interests or those of their relatives. Such participation is considered a corrupt practice and punishable by law.

RA 6713 complements this by setting ethical standards to uphold public trust. It mandates public officials to disclose all their business interests and financial holdings annually in their Statements of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN).

From November 17 to December 4, Rappler sought clarification via Viber from Ang regarding his involvement with Allencon — specifically whether he disclosed his shareholdings in his SALN, the extent and timing of his ownership, his awareness of the company’s government contracts, and any measures taken to prevent conflicts of interest.

A certain Attorney Vera Cruz who said he was Ang’s legal counsel, responded promptly on November 17, saying: “Cong. Jojo Ang has already disengaged from the business and divested his interest in Allencon when he became Uswag Ilonggo Party-list Representative in 2022.”

On November 25, Ang, through a Viber call, said he had let go of his positions at Allencon and that SEC documents might not be updated.

From December 2 to 4, Rappler again sent follow-up inquiries to Ang via Viber for more detailed responses to earlier questions. Although Ang made a call on December 3 and referred the queries to his staff, no substantial reply was provided.

Despite assertions that the lawmaker had already divested from Allencon, official documents tell a different story.

It was only after March 29, 2023, as seen in an amended General Information Sheet, that Ang divested his shares, already nearly a year after winning his first congressional seat. He was replaced by Jocelyn Tan, who now holds the same 5% stake and was the fourth nominee of Uswag Ilonggo in the recent 2025 midterm elections.

Apart from him being a stakeholder, records also show that Ang once sat as part of Allencon’s majority member of the Board of Directors, according to amended Articles of Incorporation dated August 22, 2013.

Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) contract documents from 2016, 2017, 2019, 2022 also identify Ang as Allencon’s president. Ang also signed a notice to proceed for Allencon in 2022. Records from 2018 and 2021 list him as the firm’s authorized manager. 

Contracts from 2023 to 2025 were already signed by Alvin Patrick Tan, one of the stakeholders, as an authorized managing officer. 

Allencon gains

From 2016 to 2021, Allencon’s project portfolio remained moderate, but it surged sharply in 2022, the year Ang assumed his congressional seat. 

That year, the firm got P125 million in awarded contracts. By 2025, the firm’s contracts reached P1.29 billion for 103 projects, or a total of P2.2 billion in a span of nine years. 

Allencon’s largest concentration of projects is in the newly-established Iloilo 6th District Engineering Office (DEO), where it secured P449 million in contracts. These projects are in 2025 alone as the 6th DEO itself was created only on June 13, 2024, under Republic Act No. 12005. The 6th DEO covers the municipalities of Badiangan, Bingawan, Cabatuan, Calinog, Janiuay, Lambunao, Maasin, Mina, and Pototan. 

In addition to direct contracts, the company also secured projects through joint ventures with four other firms, including IBC International Builders Corporation (IBC), another Tan family-owned company. 

The joint ventures brought in additional multi-million–peso contracts: 

• P1.97 billion with A.M. Oreta & Co.
• P743.6 million with Advanced Foundation Construction Systems Corp.
• P641.4 million with MAC Builders Corp. 
• P379.9 million with IBC

Contracts involving these partnerships bring Allencon’s total DPWH projects to P3.7 billion. 

A supercontractor

IBC, also owned by Ang’s uncle, is the largest construction firm in Western Visayas, whose dominance in the country’s infrastructure sector is longstanding. 

During the presidency of the late Benigno S. Aquino III, the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism reported that IBC was among the country’s Top 10 contractors, having been awarded P11.49 billion in contracts by the DPWH. 

The firm continued its successful climb under the Duterte administration, securing P5.2 billion in contracts over an 18-month period, from July 2016 to December 2017.

An earlier investigation by the Iloilo-based Daily Guardian showed that IBC also emerged as one of the region’s top flood-control contractors, along with A.D. Pendon Construction & Supply Incorporated and F. Gurrea Construction Incorporated, two other firms among the top three regional infrastructure contractors. 

Ang’s career trajectory prior to the 2022 elections was characterized by his role as the alleged crucial intermediary for the Tan family’s construction enterprises. 

He was publicly known as IBC’s primary liaison, described as its “number one salesman,” who actively negotiated with local government officials across the region on the company’s behalf.

Even prior to Ang’s political rise, IBC had already expanded its project portfolio. It had P2.9 billion in projects in 2016 and continued securing contracts annually that amounted to P6.6 billion in 2025.

Since 2016, the company has had a total of 592 projects in the region, or over P41 billion worth of contracts, a figure that can reach P43 billion once joint venture contracts are counted.

IBC’s joint ventures include six other firms, among them Allencon. These tie-ups resulted in additional multi-million-peso contracts, including:

• P315 million with Wilkinson Construction
• P193 million with A.M. Oreta & Co.
• P259 million with Advanced Foundation Construction Systems Corp.
• P40 million with J.E. Tico Construction Co.,Inc.
• P74 million with J.S. Layson & Co., Inc.
• P379.9 million with Allencon

In 2025, however, IBC became the subject of a major graft complaint. The Crimes and Corruption Watch International Incorporated (CCWI) filed a graft and corruption case against IBC before the Office of the Ombudsman. 

The CCWI accused DPWH Region VI officials and IBC of irregularities in awarding and implementing multiple government infrastructure contracts worth billions of pesos. IBC allegedly received P2.4 billion worth of contracts out of the P9.25 billion total awarded by DPWH-VI in 2024, despite issues such as reported project delays. 

The allegations include violations of the New Government Procurement Act, Government Procurement Reform Act, Code of Conduct for Public Officials, and Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act. 

There were claims that the DPWH-VI Bids and Awards Committee did not suspend or blacklist IBC despite more than 20 recorded project delays or slippages, a move that, according to CCWI, constitutes gross negligence. 

Ang’s alleged links to corruption

Uswag Ilonggo, founded in 2020 by former Iloilo City mayor Jerry Treñas, positioned itself as a reform-oriented regional party-list. It has one primary goal: to “elevate the lives of every Ilonggo through programs that promote change, inclusivity, and progress throughout Western Visayas.”

Its platform centered on a five-point agenda:

1. The well-being of every Ilonggo family comes first 
2. Proper healthcare for the poor
3. Consistent programs on infrastructure and tourism development
4. Progress in agriculture and aquaculture (fishing)
5. Providing more scholarships for the youth

Ang, its first nominee in 2022 and again in 2025, campaigned on this development-centered agenda.

But as the Marcos Jr. administration launched a sweeping probe into alleged irregularities in flood control spending, Ang became entangled in the controversy.

His name first surfaced when Batangas 1st District Engineer Abelardo Calalo claimed that Ang was a primary conduit for relaying instructions to collect “donations” from contractors involved in 2025 construction projects. 

Calalo has been arrested for allegedly attempting to bribe Batangas 1st District Representative Leandro Leviste with P3.126 million. The alleged bribe was supposedly offered to dissuade an investigation into alleged anomalies in DPWH projects in the district. Calalo was later released on bail. 

Leviste rejected Calalo’s claim that Ang told him (Calalo) to deliver contractor donations for Leviste. The Batangas lawmaker said Calalo never mentioned Ang during their meeting, dismissing the engineer’s statements as a diversion. 

In September, during the Senate blue ribbon committee hearing, government contractors Sarah and Curlee Discaya also identified Ang as part of an alleged network of officials receiving 10-15% kickbacks from infrastructure projects. 

As the committee resumed its investigation in November, Ang was one of the officials named in a ledger supposedly documenting cash payouts submitted by the Discayas.

But Ang has since then categorically denied what he called “baseless accusations” of the couple. 

“I am totally surprised that my name has been mentioned. It is unfortunate that some interested parties have chosen to resort to name-dragging for their personal agenda. It is a convenient distraction from the real issues,” he said earlier. 

‘Inserted’ projects go to Allencon, IBC 

As the investigation into the corruption scandal widened, Allencon and IBC emerged as major beneficiaries of projects allegedly inserted in the 2025 national budget.

A 20-page list released by former House appropriations chair Zaldy Co showed 12 road projects across Antique, Iloilo, and Guimaras.

In Antique alone, Allencon received three projects worth P86 million, all under the DPWH’s Antique DEO. These included asphalt overlay and maintenance works along portions of the Bantayan-San Pedro-Cubay Road and the Bugo-General Fullon Road.

IBC secured two additional projects along the same road: a P128-million contract under DPWH-VI and a P94-million contract under the Antique DEO. 

In Iloilo province, a P96-million slope protection project in Alimodian went to Bulacan-based M.S. Ramos Construction Incorporated, covering the construction of a slope protection structure in Barangay Manasa.

Two other Iloilo projects — the Iloilo East Coast-Capiz Road and the Iloilo-Capiz Road (New Route) — remain pending and have not yet opened for bidding.

Co’s list also identified four projects in Guimaras, all focused on preventive maintenance and asphalt overlay works along various sections of the Guimaras Circumferential Road. Together, these road maintenance contracts amount to P384 million.

One of the Guimaras contracts, worth P96 million, was awarded to Iloilo City-based J.E. Tico Construction Company Incorporated. The firm’s president, Genevive Salcedo, based on a 2021 DPWH document, is the sixth nominee of the Uswag Ilonggo party-list in the May polls.

As business connections and ownership took root, so did the question: Can a public servant ever truly separate politics from profit? – Rappler.com