Who is contractor Legaspi?

A simple man caught in a swirl of controversy.

This is how Jesusito "Boyet" D. Legaspi — founder and sole proprietor of JD Legaspi Construction (JDLC) which helped build the allegedly overpriced President Diosdado Maca-pagal Avenue (PDMA) in Pasay City — describes himself.

The 39-year-old Legaspi is a civil engineer by vocation, a shy guy whose business sense is unorthodox yet successful.

From an obscure company 15 years ago that "started from scratch," JDLC was turned by its young steward into one of the country’s biggest contractors with a declared gross turnover of almost P929 million in 2001.

At first glance no one would guess that his company is being accused by Public Estates Authority (PEA) director Sulficio Tagud Jr. of benefiting from a bloated P600-million contract involving the PDMA.

"He is very unassuming. You could never tell that he was JDL," said a PEA official. "Honestly, when I first saw him lounging in our office I thought he was JDL’s driver."

Legaspi dresses simply and avoids the limelight, but according to the same official, his constant presence at the PEA office in Makati City is nothing low-key.

"He easily comes in and out of the PEA offices and officials address him by his nickname. He is at home at PEA," said another official.

When Legaspi was only 24 in 1987, JDLC became an official government contractor, which according to records was among the earliest listed.

JDLC would then go on to build several government projects including many in the University of Philippines’ campuses in Diliman, Quezon City and Ermita, Manila. It also built many Social Security System buildings in Mindanao and the Visayas.

According to Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) officials, the almost P1 billion transaction value of the company last year could easily land it in the top 50 of the country’s current 3,000 accredited contractors.

Considering the competition, JDL’s standing behind the industry’s giants FF Cruz and DM Consuji in the top 50 is not bad at all. But that makes Legaspi more intriguing.

According to the DPWH, FF Cruz and DM Consuji are corporations, while JDLC is listed as a single proprietorship.

"Single proprietorship means he (Legaspi) alone runs the company, if he dies the company dies with him. If the company is made liable for anything, all his (Legaspi’s) other properties would also be liable," explained the DPWH official, himself surprised at the record.

"But there is nothing illegal about being a sole proprietorship, in fact there are other DPWH contractors classified as such. But for me, sound business practice dictates that you should be a corporation in a business this big," said the official.

Legaspi has an answer to this.

"There is not much difference with that (being a corporation)," he told The STAR in a very brief interview. "What is important is that you have the expertise and experience."

From P146 million net asset in 1995, JDLC has more than doubled this to P310 million last year, DPWH records showed. And the company had not yet started work on the controversial PDMA at the time.