Philippine gaming regulator (PAGCOR) chief Alejandro H. Tengco on Thursday denied allegations that his family’s construction company benefited from his position or political connections, insisting he has no influence over the awarding of public works contracts.
Alejandro H. Tengco, chairman and CEO of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR), said reports linking him to government projects awarded to Nationstar Development Corporation were “misleading” and ignored the legal definition of conflict of interest.
“There is no conflict of interest because under our laws, conflict exists only when a public official has a financial interest in a contract or transaction in which they must intervene in their official capacity”, Tengco said, citing the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act and the Code of Conduct for government employees.
He said his role at PAGCOR “has no direct or indirect influence” over public works procurement and that he had fully divested his interests in Nationstar when he assumed the agency’s top post in 2022. He added that he began transferring ownership to his children as early as 2019.
His statement came after Rappler reported that Nationstar, now owned by his three children, won 14 government contracts worth about PHP7.1 billion ($120.14 million) since 2022 — coinciding with Tengco’s appointment at PAGCOR.
The outlet said Nationstar secured PHP8.6 billion ($145.52 million) in contracts from 2016 to 2025, with the value of projects more than tripling under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
Rappler noted that Nationstar won a PHP4.6 billion ($77.83 million) segment of the Davao City bypass road project as part of a joint venture with AIMM Builder and Construction Supply and China Road and Bridge Corporation. The wider project covers PHP40 billion ($676.82 million) across five contracts.
Nationstar also secured two contracts worth PHP779 million ($13.18 million) to build the College of Law facility at West Visayas State University, where First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos teaches. Another project highlighted in the report was a PHP278 million ($4.70 million) rehabilitation of a Malacañang building.
Rappler also detailed Tengco’s long association with Nationstar, noting he owned nearly 94 percent of the company in 2022 before divesting to his children, who now each hold 31.33 percent of shares. The report further discussed Tengco’s personal ties to the Marcos family, describing them as longstanding social acquaintances.
‘Legitimate business’
Tengco said his three decades in construction and Nationstar’s track record explained the company’s success. He said the firm had handled projects under previous administrations, including retrofit works at Malacañang, and had been contracted to build modular hospitals during the pandemic.
“These projects have established our goodwill or reputation in the industry,” he said.
He added that Nationstar’s recent private-sector work, including for Ateneo de Manila and Meralco, demonstrated its ability to pass stringent vetting, while DPWH projects secured by the company were won through “fair and impartial bids”.
He also clarified that the Davao bypass project was undertaken by a consortium, not by Nationstar alone. “We joined a consortium because the project was too big for us to undertake on our own,” he said.
Tengco said suggestions that the firm benefited from his ties to the Marcos family were “selective” and disregarded Nationstar’s record of legitimate business operations, regardless of partisan political considerations.”
He also added that it was up to Congress to review any gaps in conflict-of-interest regulations. He noted he had been in the construction industry since 1996 and founded Nationstar in 2015.
Nationstar, he said, had completed projects for both government and private clients, including local governments and national agencies under former presidents Benigno Aquino and Rodrigo Duterte.
These included retrofit and fit-out works at Malacañang’s premier guest house and the Presidential Management Staff building — projects he said helped establish the company’s “goodwill” in the industry.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, Nationstar was tapped to build modular hospitals nationwide.
More recently, Tengco said the firm had completed private-sector contracts such as Ateneo de Manila’s senior high school facility and several public school buildings, qualifying it for the Western Visayas State University project — one of the tenders flagged by Rappler.
Nationstar also handled retrofit and fit-out works at Meralco’s headquarters, he said, arguing that such projects demonstrated the company had passed scrutiny from both public and private institutions.
He stressed that while Nationstar had secured Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) projects through “fair and impartial bids,” none involved flood control or so-called “ghost projects”.
Tengco also disputed claims involving the Davao City bypass project, saying Nationstar joined a consortium headed by China Road and Bridge Corporation because the project was too large for the company to undertake alone.
“The consortium won the bid, not Nationstar,” he said.
