A thinly capitalized contractor that was one of the 15 firms President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. identified as cornering P100 billion worth of projects within three years was not only a favorite of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) but also the National Irrigation Administration (NIA).

M.G. Samidan Construction and Development Corp. became notorious for bagging blockbuster government projects despite a paid-up capital of only P250,000.

DPWH documents showed MG Samidan had handled multiple projects in the Cordillera region, including road rehabilitation in Benguet, slope protection works in Mountain Province, and the restoration of road slopes in Tuba, Benguet.

The company also branched out into irrigation. In 2025, it appeared in the National Irrigation Administration’s records as a contractor for the Laoag–Vintar River Irrigation System Small Irrigation Project, a development vital to farmers in Ilocos Norte.

According to NIA, the project was completed and turned over, ensuring irrigation to farms in the province.

In March 2019, the small construction firm was entered into the registry of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

M.G. Samidan, at the time of its incorporation, declared only P250,000 in paid-up capital.

Paid-up capital refers to the actual cash investment deposited by a company’s founders to start the business. It is meant to show financial capacity at the outset.

Meager capital, huge project

For a construction company, P250,000 is barely enough to fund a minor drainage project.

Yet within six years, M. G. Samidan had secured close to P4 billion worth of government contracts and was identified by President Marcos as one of the 15 contractors that cornered P100 billion in flood-control projects nationwide.

The firm is a licensed entity. Records of the Philippine Contractors Accreditation Board showed it holds License No. 33234 under Category A valid until 9 July 2027.

This type of license allows the company to take on projects worth hundreds of millions of pesos.

On paper, this establishes its authority to engage in public infrastructure. But the rapid rise of a company that started with just a quarter of a million pesos raises questions about the system that allowed this growth.

Many of the projects handled by the firm that was favored by several agencies were not small.

In June 2025, a contract worth more than P93 million was awarded to the firm. One of its largest single contracts to date has been valued at nearly P140 million. For a company that began with modest capital, this is an extraordinary leap.

The disparity highlights an uncomfortable truth: while laws require firms to declare their financial capacity, the reality of Philippine infrastructure is that thinly capitalized companies often end up with billion-peso projects.

The record of M.G. Samidan also showed a history of delays.

In 2017, before its registration as a corporation, it joined a joint venture for a road project in Mountain Province that suffered a negative slippage of almost 23 percent. Slippage is the technical term used to measure how far a project falls behind schedule. A delay of more than 15 percent can be grounds for contract termination, yet this particular project was allowed to continue. Another of its projects in Benguet was also flagged for significant delay.

Concerns about M.G. Samidan go back further. In 2007, Senator Bong Revilla issued a press release naming the firm among contractors accused of doing substandard work along the Halsema Highway. Revilla cited defective pavements, poor materials, and missed deadlines, and called on the DPWH to consider blacklisting the company.