ILOILO City — A citizens’ alliance has filed three more criminal and administrative complaints before the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas over alleged environmental and legal violations involving P670 million worth of infrastructure projects in Antique.
The latest complaints, lodged by AMLIG Antique and Kahublagan Kontra Korapsyon, came three weeks after the same groups filed five earlier complaints involving P7.3 billion worth of Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) infrastructure projects in the province.
According to the complainants, the three new cases involve projects that allegedly proceeded despite the absence — or subsequent revocation — of mandatory environmental clearances and other legal requirements.
“The complaints alleged that these officials, acting within their respective functions, permitted or facilitated the implementation of public infrastructure projects despite the absence or subsequent revocation of mandatory environmental clearances and other legal prerequisites,” the alliance said.
The projects cited in the complaints are:
* Panay East-West Road in Valderrama, Antique worth P349.8 million, where the group alleged that the Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) was issued two years after construction had started and was later revoked on Oct. 17, 2025;
* Pandan-Ibajay Road Phase 3 worth P115.8 million, which allegedly lacked a Gratuitous Special Use Permit (GSUP) and was later subjected to a cease-and-desist order issued on April 14, 2026; and
* San Jose Coastal Road Seawall-Esplanade worth P204.5 million, which the complainants alleged proceeded without an ECC, while the feasibility study was completed only four years after the project.
The alliance described the filing of the cases as more than a legal action, saying it represents public outrage over infrastructure projects that allegedly ignored environmental safeguards and community consultation.
“While that scandal plays out on the national level, the people of Antique have been living with its local face, for years, flooded road and farm, silted rivers and coral reefs, buried creeks, and communities that were never consulted, never compensated and never told the truth,” the group said.
The alliance also linked the projects to what it described as a broader national controversy involving alleged ghost flood control projects, inflated contracts, and misuse of public works funds currently under investigation by the Ombudsman.
The group also warned that the Panay East-West Road, Laua-an-Tapaz Road, and Pandan-Ibajay Road may provide access to mineral-rich portions of the Central Panay Mountain Range, raising concerns that the projects could facilitate future mining activities.
“This is not a campaign about one bad contractor or one negligent official. It is a campaign to change a system… Eight complaints have been filed. More are coming. The spirit of Antique will not rest until justice is served,” the alliance declared.
Among the alliance’s demands are the filing of charges before the Sandiganbayan, preventive suspension of incumbent respondents, special fraud audits by the Commission on Audit, enforcement of cease-and-desist orders and ECC revocations by Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ (DENR) agencies, and the release of budget documents by the Department of Budget and Management.
The latest complaints follow the first batch filed on July 16 against more than 20 current and former government officials and private contractors over alleged irregularities in 91 DPWH contracts implemented from 2017 to 2025, accusing them of violating anti-graft, environmental, procurement, and wildlife protection laws.
The respondents in the new complaints also included current and former officials of DPWH Region 6, DENR-Environmental Management Bureau Region 6, and contractors./PN
