Dizon wants Co, Discaya-linked projects finished by DPWH

MANILA, Philippines — Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon has tasked the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Region 5 to jumpstart the repair and completion of abandoned and suspected ghost infrastructure projects in Albay, as part of the government’s intensified drive to fix long-delayed public works and hold erring contractors accountable.

Dizon issued the directive following the second leg of his Maharlika Highway inspection yesterday morning alongside acting Transportation Secretary Giovanni Lopez and Albay Gov. Noel Rosal.

The inspection was conducted in line with President Marcos’ order for a massive, nationwide rehabilitation of the Maharlika Highway.

Dizon said he dreaded the gargantuan job of fixing and completing the abandoned and unfinished projects of Sunwest Inc., linked to Ako Bicol party-list congressman Zaldy Co in Albay.

“They could have up to thousands of contracts here (in Albay),” Dizon said.

“Sunwest has multiple cases piled (from their projects) here. We need to fix the stalled projects they left behind,” he added.

Sunwest Inc., formerly Sunwest Construction and Development Corp., was founded in Albay. Co’s sister Farida “Diday” Co is the incumbent vice governor of the province.

Their brother Christopher “Kito” Co served a stint as Ako Bicol party-list congressman. He later ran but lost in his bid for Albay’s second congressional district last year.

Kito and Farida have been listed as owners of the Legazpi City, Albay-based Hi-Tone Construction and Development Corp., which has been lumped together with their brother’s Sunwest Inc. as among the contractors that cornered hundreds of billions of pesos in flood control contracts, many of which had been alleged as outright ghost or grossly substandard projects.

Yesterday, Dizon said that all the projects of Sunwest-Hi-Tone have been terminated, since their license has been revoked and they have pending complaints before the Office of the Ombudsman and the Sandiganbayan.

Among the projects Dizon inspected were the long-stalled Malabog Flyover in Daraga town; damaged portions of the Maharlika Highway in Anislag, Daraga and in Sorsogon; and the Bicol Regional Hospital and Medical Center in Legazpi City, one of the administration’s identified legacy hospital projects.

Dizon said the DPWH will push to complete the Malabog Flyover within two years after it was left unfinished for nearly five years. The flyover, which began construction in 2021, was intended to ease traffic between the Bicol International Airport and Maharlika Highway but has remained idle.

Meanwhile, Phase 3 of the Malabog Flyover project, awarded to Alpha & Omega Corp. of the Discaya couple will be terminated, with the project scheduled for rebidding this February. 

Phases 1 and 2 of the less than one-kilometer Malabog flyover project, Dizon said, were awarded and supposedly completed by Hi-Tone.

He added that funding for the project is already included in the 2026 national budget.

The DPWH secretary also ordered the acceleration of construction works at the delayed Bicol Regional Hospital and Medical Center, stressing that prolonged delays are unacceptable given the project’s importance to health care delivery in Albay and neighboring provinces.