A little-known construction firm with just ₱250,000 in paid-up capital has emerged as one of the top recipients of multi-billion peso flood control projects under the Marcos administration, Inquirer.net reveals.
Records show that MG Samidan Construction and Development Corp., established in 2019, managed to secure ₱5.02 billion worth of contracts from 2022 to 2025. This placed the company 12th among the government’s top contractors, despite its modest capitalization registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Most of MG Samidan’s 58 projects are concentrated in Northern Luzon, with 35 in Abra alone. The company also holds contracts in La Union, Mountain Province, Benguet, and Pangasinan. One of its biggest projects, worth ₱144.75 million, is a flood control structure along the Abra river basin. However, data from the University of the Philippines’ Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazards (NOAH) indicated that the risk of flooding in that area is “little to none.”
Questions have also been raised about seven of its contracts—each priced exactly at ₱96.5 million across different provinces. Officials from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) said similar costings may have been due to standardized designs and budget submissions, though lawmakers are preparing to scrutinize such patterns.
The case has drawn comparisons to Pharmally Pharmaceuticals, a thinly-capitalized firm that controversially secured billions in pandemic supply contracts in 2020. That episode ended in Senate investigations, graft charges, and allegations of overpricing.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has since ordered the DPWH to audit all flood control projects undertaken since 2022, stressing in his State of the Nation Address that he would not approve a national budget tainted by anomalous spending. The House of Representatives is likewise set to launch its own inquiry into possible irregularities in the implementation of these infrastructure projects.
