DO YOU still remember Legacy Construction Corporation (Legacy)?
Rewind: Legacy is among the controversial contractors identified by President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. as having cornered billions of pesos worth of flood control projects across the country.
Data from the “Sumbong sa Pangulo” web portal showed that Legacy secured P2.75 billion worth of flood control contracts covering 37 projects in Negros Occidental, P1.6 billion in Cebu, P1.4 billion in Romblon, and P961.2 million in Negros Oriental.
However, when a full-blown investigation into allegedly anomalous flood control projects nationwide began in August last year, Legacy gradually faded from the headlines.
Unlike the controversial construction companies of the Discaya couple, Curlee and Sarah, Legacy seemed to have vanished from the investigative spotlight, as though the controversy surrounding it had died a natural death.
Naturally, many raised their eyebrows and asked the intriguing $64,000 question: “Who is its ninong in Malacañang?”
Legacy appeared fortunate to have escaped the same level of public scrutiny that engulfed the Discaya couple.
But there was a catch: the Court of Appeals ordered the freezing of Legacy’s assets.
This came as both the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) and the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) were tasked with investigating Legacy and other controversial contractors.
Yet, no criminal charges had been filed at the time.
TABLE-THUMPING
But just when Legacy seemed to have disappeared from public attention, its name suddenly resurfaced following the table-thumping incident in Bacolod City on October 16 involving Bacolod Lone District’s Cong. Albee Benitez, currently a Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, during a dinner gathering at the lobby of the Bacolod City Government Center.
And at the heart of the controversy? The P4.1-billion loan obtained by the Bacolod City government from 2022 to 2025 during Benitez’s term as mayor. Suspecting Councilor Homer Bais, one of his political allies, of instigating the inquiry, Albee seemingly lost his composure.
Five days after the embarrassing incident, the billionaire lawmaker publicly apologized to Bais and the people of Bacolod for his inappropriate behavior.
Case closed?
Not quite.
As independent Councilor Wilson “Jun” Gamboa Jr. initiated an inquiry into the city’s loans, Legacy’s name — lo and behold — was resurrected!
Why? Because Legacy is the contractor behind the still-unfinished P765-million legislative building located behind the Bacolod City Government Center along Carlos Hilado Highway in Villamonte.
But why has the project become controversial?
The legislative building was supposed to be completed within 18 months following its groundbreaking in December 2023. That timetable has long since passed.
According to the Joint Committee Report presented to the Sangguniang Panlungsod on October 21, the building was only 51 percent complete, although just 48 percent of its P765-million budget had reportedly been utilized.
Regardless of how these figures are interpreted, one pressing question remains: Why has the project been delayed for more than a year?
The people of Bacolod seek a clear explanation of what went wrong.
DIVINE INTERVENTION
Now, here is an intriguing thought: Could Legacy’s sudden “resurrection” amid Bacolod’s loan controversy be a case of divine intervention?
Who would have imagined that a single outburst at a dinner gathering could reopen questions about a multimillion-peso government project and bring a controversial contractor back into the spotlight?
Legacy — a company that had seemingly slipped out of the public spotlight — suddenly found itself back under scrutiny. Its once-dormant controversies were resurrected, not necessarily because of any new allegations against the company, but because the political uproar renewed public interest in the unfinished legislative building.
If Legacy is looking for someone to blame for this fresh wave of bad publicity, perhaps they need look no further. One ill-tempered encounter brought the company back into the headlines.
What a disastrous resurrection, indeed!/PN
