The Office of the Ombudsman has filed 14 counts of graft against USWAG Ilonggo Party-list Rep. James Ang Jr. before the Sandiganbayan over his alleged beneficial ownership of a construction firm that bagged government infrastructure projects.
Ang, according to Assistant Ombudsman Mico Clavano, received nearly P199 million in payments from a construction firm he holds a stake after it secured P214 million worth of contracts from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
“The Constitution is clear: no lawmaker may be financially interested in a government contract during his term,” he stressed.
“Conflict of interest is not a gray area. It does not require proof that a deal was rigged or that cash changed hands – only that a public official profited, or stood to profit, from a government contract while in office,” Clavano added.
Ang has been linked to International Builders Corp. (IBC), one of the largest DPWH contractors in Western Visayas, and Allencon Development Corp.
Both firms, which won hundreds of government infrastructure projects from 2016 to 2024, are chaired by Alfonso Tan, Ang’s uncle.
Public officials, under Republic Act RA 3019, are prohibited from having a “direct or indirect financial or pecuniary interest in any business, contract or transaction that they intervene or participate in under their official capacity.”IMT
