PATTERN OR PRIVILEGE?: Sunwest secures 41 road contracts near Zaldy Co’s hydropower sites

By Rjay Zuriaga Castor

Resigned partylist lawmaker Zaldy Co’s co-owned Sunwest Inc. secured several government infrastructure contracts in the towns of Laua-an and Bugasong in Antique — the same areas where another company owned by the former congressman operates and plans to expand hydropower facilities.

The Antique District Engineering Office awarded 22 projects to Sunwest in Laua-an and 19 in Bugasong, making the two upland towns the firm’s top project sites in Antique.

Based on Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) records, Sunwest’s government contracts in Western Visayas are overwhelmingly concentrated in Antique.

The company has secured projects only in this province, except for a single PHP 15-million project inside Camp Monteclaro in Miag-ao, Iloilo, which is currently 41 percent complete and implemented by the DPWH-6.

The Bicol-based construction firm has had 65 projects in Antique since 2017. Forty-one of these — or 63% of its total contracts in the province — are road construction. The concentration is most evident in the towns of Laua-an and Bugasong.

HYDROPOWER LINKS

In 2013, Sunwest Water and Electric Co. (SUWECO) opened Panay Island’s first hydropower facility in Bugasong.

Zaldy Co is the chairperson and chief executive officer of SUWECO.

Located along the Igsoro section of the Paliwan River, the PHP 1.4-billion Villasiga-1 Hydropower Plant has an installed capacity of 8.08 megawatts (MW), according to a March 2025 report by the Department of Energy.

It was also in 2013 when SUWECO signed a 20-year power supply agreement with the Antique Electric Cooperative, the main power distributor.

The Villasiga-1 Hydropower Plant is part of the nine mini-hydropower plants that SUWECO plans to construct in Antique and Aklan. The firm has invested about PHP 9 billion in these projects, which collectively have around 50 MW capacity.

Other planned projects of SUWECO are the Villasiga 2 Hydroelectric Power Project. The plant, also located in Bugasong, is in the pre-development stage as of September 2023 and has a potential capacity of 9.4 MW.

Also in Antique, the firm is also pursuing the 2-MW Guiamon San Ramon Hydropower Project in Laua-an, the 3-MW Dalanas Hydropower Project in Barbasa, and the 2.1-MW Tibiao Hydropower Project in Tibiao.

In Aklan, SUWECO plans to construct the 15-MW Main Aklan River Hydropower Project, the 2.4-MW Upper Aklan West Tributary Hydropower Project, the 3-MW Lower East Aklan Tributary Hydropower Project, and the 2.4-MW Middle West Tributary Hydropower Project.

Following the operation of the Villasiga-1 plant, SUWECO said in 2013 that it plans to proceed with the construction of the Guiamon–San Ramon plant, the Main Aklan Hydropower Project, and the Villasiga-2 Hydropower Project.

SUWECO and ANTECO’s power supply agreement covers the power generated from the Villasiga-1 plant and the Guiamon–San Ramon plant.

LUAU-AN, BUGASONG GET TOP PROJECTS

In Laua-an, 18 out of 22 Sunwest projects involve road construction, many of them opening interior routes in mountainous or remote barangays. These projects are typically priced at over PHP99 million each.

Four projects involve the construction or rehabilitation of Level II water supply systems worth PHP7.4 million, while another is a PHP58-million storm surge protection project in Cairawan.

Several of the road projects connect Laua-an to nearby provinces like Aklan and Capiz, including the Laua-an Ridge View to Aklan River, Villasiga Ridge to Tapaz, and Maybunga–Tapaz Road.

Some projects carry unusually large price tags. The construction of the Maybunga–San Ramon Road costs PHP148.5 million, while the Poblacion–Magyapo–Jinalinan Road project is priced at PHP147.3 million.

In September 2022, the province of Antique reported a landslide in Sitio Sadsadan in Barangay Maybunga, Laua-an, halting nearby roadworks and hydroelectric development of SUWECO.

In Bugasong, 17 out of 19 Sunwest projects are also road constructions.  The remaining contracts include a PHP7.4-million Level II water supply system in Barangay Ilaya and a PHP59-million riverbank protection and waterways enhancement project at the Cangaran River.

Road projects in Bugasong appear repeatedly clustered in the same barangays, including Tagudtod, Maray, Tono-an, Villasiga, and Igsoro.

The most extensive project in the town is the Tagudtod–Maray–Tono-an Road, implemented through seven separate contracts under multiple phases since 2017. The cumulative cost of this single stretch of road has reached PHP536 million.

The largest individual contract for Bugasong is the “Construction of Road, Barangay Tagudtod–Barangay Maray–Barangay Tono-an,” valued at PHP147 million.