Eddie Guillen, an area ally of the Marcoses in Ilocos Norte and presidential appointee to move the Nationwide Irrigation Administration (NIA), belongs to a household of huge authorities contractors who’ve scored tasks in cities the place they’re additionally the elected leaders.
Guillen’s spouse, two daughters, son-in-law, brother-in-law, and nephew, or six of his members of the family personal firms regardless of being elected public officers themselves. Collectively they’ve 4 firms amongst them with billions price of contracts from the Division of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) since 2016. A number of of their hundred-million-peso contracts are in joint ventures with one another, or sharing the pot.
Guillen’s spouse Gina Guillen is the mayor of Piddig, and the vice mayor is her brother, Edwin Salazar. Since 2016 or for 10 years, three firms that belong to the Guillen-Salazar clan have been within the prime 4 DPWH contractors with most tasks situated in Piddig, listed under in keeping with quantity:
- DYLAN EQUIPMENT, CONSTRUCTION AND SUPPLIES – owned by Guillen’s son-in-law with P415.8 million price of DPWH tasks in Piddig (No. 2)
- NORTH TECH BUILDERS AND CONSTRUCTION SUPPLY – owned by Salazar’s spouse with P372.3 million price of DPWH tasks in Piddig (No. 3)
- SKYLINE CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT AND DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION – owned by Guillen’s three kids with P368.4 million price of DPWH tasks in Piddig (No. 4)
Dylan Tools turned No. 2 as a result of it’s the named contractor for 2 large joint ventures in Piddig. Its associate can be Skyline, retaining it throughout the household.
In Claveria, Cagayan, the place Guillen’s daughter Lucille Angelus “LA” Guillen-Yapo is the mayor, Skyline is the highest DPWH contractor with P358.09 million price of tasks situated within the municipality.
Skyline is owned by Guillen’s three kids, together with Yapo, and excluding their dad and mom. Guillen’s workplace stated this removes battle of curiosity.
“Administrator Eddie G. Guillen will not be the registered proprietor of Skyline Tools and Improvement Company, and any curiosity he beforehand had within the firm was absolutely divested effectively earlier than his appointment as NIA…. Since Skyline doesn’t transact with NIA in any method, Administrator Guillen’s trustworthy efficiency of his duties as NIA administrator doesn’t battle with Skyline’s enterprise operations,” his workplace stated in an e mail to Rappler on Friday, December 19.
What NIA transacted with are the businesses North Tech (owned by Guillen’s sister-in-law) and Stable North Development (owned by the Salazars’ son, or Guillen’s nephew).
With Guillen on the helm, NIA has awarded no less than six contracts to Stable North Development and North Tech.
“He didn’t intervene in any manner, nor did he derive — immediately or not directly — any pecuniary profit from the contracts awarded to Stable North Development or North Tech Builders,” stated Guillen’s workplace. That is additional mentioned under.
All within the household
Eddie Guillen, an engineer, used to have a development firm named after him, however the household agency later modified its identify from Eddie G. Builders to Skyline Development Tools and Improvement Company, which is owned by his three kids, in keeping with their company filings with the Securities and Alternate Fee.
Skyline is owned by the three Guillen kids — Claveria Mayor LA Yapo, Homer Guillen, and Gian Nicolette Chua. Chua is now a councilor of Piddig, Ilocos Norte, however that didn’t cease her from additionally serving as managing officer of the corporate. Chua indicators for Skyline’s contracts, together with for tasks situated in a city the place she and her husband Dexter sit as councilors, her mom is mayor, and her uncle is vice mayor.
The anti-graft regulation prohibits battle of curiosity, however limits it to contracts the place the general public official “intervenes or takes half in his/her official capability.” Politicontractors have at all times justified their contracts by saying it was not their workplace that awarded the tasks, however one other company, for instance the DPWH.
Of Skyline’s 15 DPWH contracts in Piddig since 2016, 13 had been associated to flood management.
One among Skyline’s tasks in Piddig is the Libnaoan flood management undertaking price P18.8 million. It was presupposed to be completed in July 2024, however was solely 73.54% full, in keeping with the DPWH’s transparency monitoring.
The Native Authorities Code prohibits mayors from having a second job, however for Mayor Gina Guillen, Rappler has discovered that since no less than 2020, she has sat on the board of one other household agency known as Springold Development & Buying and selling Integrated. Though Springold doesn’t seem to contract with authorities, sitting on its board nonetheless counts as a second occupation.
Like her mom, Mayor LA Yapo of Claveria, Cagayan, can be prohibited from having a second job, but she owns each Springold and the contractor Skyline.
LA is married to Dexter Yapo, who’s a councilor of Piddig. Yapo owns the only proprietorship Dylan Tools, Development and Provides, which is the second largest DPWH contractor for tasks in Piddig.
Skyline maintains there’s no battle of curiosity within the contracts. The corporate informed Rappler in an e mail on Monday, December 22, that “neither Eddie G. Guillen, LA Guillen, Georgina Guillen, Gian Nicolette Guillen-Chua nor any shareholder of Skyline held any place throughout the DPWH that might have enabled them to intervene in, affect, or have an effect on the bidding or award of DPWH contracts.”
For mayors Gina Guillen and LA Guillen-Yapo, the mom and daughter stated their posts within the firms “don’t represent occupation as prohibited below Part 90 of the Native Authorities Code,” including that the mayors don’t take part within the day-to-day operations.
“The regulation doesn’t mechanically prohibit elective officers from being company officers or shareholders. What’s prohibited is participating in personal actions that considerably intervene with the efficiency of official duties,” they informed Rappler in a press release.
Eirene Jhone Aguila, a lawyer and good governance advocate, stated it’s a transparent battle of curiosity as a result of “the battle right here doesn’t dwell in DPWH, it lives in metropolis corridor.”
“When the LGU (native authorities unit) led by your individual household is repeatedly awarding tasks to an organization owned by your kids, you might be standing within the very purple zone that our legal guidelines on native authorities, procurement, and anti-graft had been designed to stop,” stated Aguila.
Right down to the in-laws
So far as contractors go, it seems that the unique contractors are Guillen’s in-laws. Guillen had declared as soon as working for E.E Salazar Development, owned by the household of Piddig Vice Mayor Edwin Salazar, brother of Mayor Gina Guillen.
Vice Mayor Edwin Salazar included the household agency North Tech Builders Company, and in a while, his spouse Maribeth arrange the only proprietorship firm North Tech Builders and Development Provide.
North Tech Builders is the third largest DPWH contractor in Piddig, and it has really contracted with the Piddig LGU. Rappler discovered no less than three contracts price P477,488 for 2024 and 2025, awarded by the municipality of Piddig. This was a part of our questions despatched to Vice Mayor Edwin Salazar. We are going to replace this story as soon as we obtain a response.
Mayor Gina Guillen maintained there have been no contracts awarded by the municipality of Piddig to Stable North and North Tech Builders. Nonetheless, paperwork obtained from Philgeps present that the barangay tasks awarded to each firms carried the letterhead of the municipality.
Aguila stated that having the contracts awarded on the barangay stage doesn’t take away legal responsibility, as “you don’t repair a battle by pushing it right down to the barangay. You simply show how far you’re prepared to go to disguise it.”
North Tech Builders Piddig LGU Contracts by Lian Buan
To not be discounted is Stable North Development, owned by the Salazar son Patrick who’s likewise a city councilor. Stable North has bagged P23.77 million price of DPWH contracts for tasks in Piddig.
Stable North’s largest consumer is definitely NIA, the place Patrick’s uncle Eddie is the chief. Since December 2022 when Guillen was appointed administrator, Patrick Salazar’s Stable North has bagged 5 NIA tasks in Ilocos Sur price P43.2 million.
North Tech, as well as, scored a P9-million undertaking in Ilocos Sur from NIA in 2023.
The anti-graft regulation punishes these with direct or oblique monetary or pecuniary curiosity in a authorities contract “with which he intervenes or takes half in his official capability” (Part 3h), or a contract “requiring the approval of a board, panel or group of which he’s a member, and which workouts discretion in such approval, even when he votes towards it.”
“Administrator Guillen was not conscious that Stable North Development or North Tech Builders participated in, or had been awarded, contracts by any NIA regional or provincial workplace. Had he been conscious, he wouldn’t have inspired nor interfered in any method,” Guillen’s workplace stated.
Guillen’s workplace defined additional that he couldn’t have influenced the bidding course of as a result of he didn’t act as the top of procuring entity or HOPE. Heads of companies are often the HOPEs.
“NIA follows a decentralized procurement system, the place procurement actions are performed on the regional and provincial ranges. Pursuant to RA 12009 and earlier procurement legal guidelines, in decentralized procurement, the HOPE is the top of the involved regional or provincial workplace — on this case, the respective regional or provincial managers, not the NIA administrator,” stated Guillen’s workplace.
Nonetheless, Aguila stated: “You’ll be able to decentralize signatures, however you can’t decentralize accountability. When your company’s tasks enrich your individual family members, the regulation will nonetheless ask: would these contracts look the identical if you weren’t in that place?”
Rappler despatched a joint letter for the entire household with particular questions for every member, however solely Guillen responded. The household was again collectively in Piddig to have fun the city’s pageant final week, together with Guillen, after we had been following up our letter.
– with analysis from Vicensa Nonato/Rappler.com
Vicensa Nonato is a Rappler intern. She is a 3rd yr journalism pupil on the College of the Philippines Diliman.
