‘SUPERCONTRACTOR’: Sunwest corners 65 projects worth over P4-B in Antique

By Rjay Zuriaga Castor

Sunwest Inc., a construction firm co-founded by Ako Bicol Rep. Zaldy Co, secured at least 65 government infrastructure projects in Antique worth over PHP 4 billion from 2017 to 2025.

The Bicol-based contractor first entered Antique in 2017, securing five contracts valued at PHP 150.38 million — all located in the town of Bugasong, according to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) website.

A similar pattern followed in 2018, when Sunwest landed another five projects worth PHP 443.97 million in Bugasong and Laua-an.

In 2019, the firm was awarded a single road project in Bugasong valued at PHP 93.6 million.

However, the number of contracts surged in 2020, with Sunwest winning 21 projects worth PHP 412.4 million, including water supply systems in remote barangays, coastal protection works, and road improvements.

At that time, Senator Loren Legarda was serving her first year as Antique’s lone district representative, a position she held from 2019 to 2022, while Zaldy Co also began his term as Ako Bicol party-list congressman.

Sunwest continued to secure projects in the province in 2021, winning 10 more contracts worth over PHP 700 million, primarily for flood control structures and revetment walls along rivers.

The contractor maintained its dominance in 2022 and 2023, bagging additional slope protection and flood control contracts totaling nearly PHP 900 million.

In 2024, the value of Sunwest’s projects climbed to PHP 1.27 billion — its highest since entering the province — focused largely on new road construction in upland towns including Laua-an, Barbaza, and Bugasong.

Many of these projects remain unfinished or delayed, based on DPWH status reports, prompting questions about implementation amid sustained funding.

As of October 2025, Sunwest has already secured another road contract in Laua-an worth PHP 45 million, which was only 57 percent complete.

SUNWEST’S WATER SUPPLY SYSTEMS

The most significant concentration of Sunwest’s projects occurred in 2020, when it was awarded the majority of Antique’s Level II water supply system contracts.

A Level II water system is a communal faucet or standpost setup with a water source, reservoir, piped network, and basic treatment, typically serving four to six households per outlet.

In 2020, the DPWH Antique District Engineering Office launched a provincewide rollout of these systems, awarding 16 out of 32 projects to Sunwest.

Each of Sunwest’s Level II projects was priced between PHP 7.3 million and PHP 7.8 million.

Comparable Level II water projects in other areas, such as in Bacolod City, Masbate, Davao del Sur, and Batangas, were priced only around PHP4.9 million, according to DPWH’s own contract listings.

Sunwest was also not the first to construct these Level II systems in Antique. As early as 2016 to 2018, the DPWH had already implemented similar projects in San Remigio, Tobias Fornier, Hamtic, and Patnongon.

DPWH data, however, revealed that those earlier projects cost only PHP2 million to PHP3 million, less than half of Sunwest’s contract cost.

Worse, reports indicate that some of the Sunwest-built water systems are now non-operational.

In Barangay Aureliana, Patnongon, residents say their Sunwest-built water system stopped working after just one month.

The same complaints were heard in Barangay Guintas in Hamtic and Barangay Egaña in Sibalom, where the systems no longer supply water.