Ex-Antique governor Cadiao, 9 others face graft raps over P531M gov’t center

Former Antique governor Rhodora J. Cadiao, eight provincial officials and a contractor have been charged with graft before the Office of the Ombudsman over the alleged irregular construction of the ₱531.2-million Antique Government Center.

Also named in the complaint were Provincial Accountant Esther Minnie A. Julian, Provincial Treasurer Joyce N. Suriaga, Provincial Engineer and bids and awards committee vice chairman Inocencio P. Dajao Jr., former provincial administrator and BAC chairman Nery G. Duremdes, former BAC vice chairman Nicolasito S. Calawag Jr., BAC member Rachel B. Gindap, former BAC member Rene B. Oberio, former BAC secretariat Bienvenido E. Nallos Jr., and the owners of F. Gurrea Construction Inc.

The complaint was filed by Jon Sherwin S. Pacete and Wilson A. Geronimo.

According to the complainants, the Antique Government Center project was planned on a 6.4-hectare agricultural lot in Barangay Badiang in San Jose de Buenavista.

They said Cadiao requested the reclassification of the land from agricultural to institutional use, but the request was denied under Sangguniang Bayan Resolution No. 54, Series of 2023, and the project was supposedly shelved.

Despite the denial, the complainants alleged that F. Gurrea Construction Inc. proceeded with the project and had completed about 30 percent of the work by 22 January 2025.

They further alleged that the contractor received ₱144,689,986.22 as mobilization payment and ₱386,572,719.64 as first and partial progress payment on 14 May 2025.

The complaint also said a work stoppage order was issued on 20 June 2025 due to the absence of a building permit.

On 18 February 2026, the Office of the Building Official of San Jose de Buenavista allegedly issued a certification confirming that no building permit had been approved for the project.

The complainants argued that the central issue in the case is whether public funds could lawfully be disbursed for structural works undertaken on a project site with unresolved land-use classification issues, the absence of a building permit, and a work stoppage order.

They added that the project site was also reportedly located within an irrigation service area.

The complaint further alleged that the release of ₱531,262,705.86 to F. Gurrea Construction Inc. exposed the provincial government to potential audit disallowance, invalid expenditure, legal nullification of the works and financial losses due to regulatory noncompliance.

The complainants also claimed that the mobilization payment was recorded in accounting records on 14 September 2023 — more than six months after the Sangguniang Bayan denied the land reclassification request on 27 February 2023.

They added that the payment was made months after Cadiao reportedly announced on 1 March 2023 that the project had been shelved.