Alfonso “Al” Cusi was the quintessential Duterte man: loyal, pliant, and willing to bend institutions to the will of power.
For decades, Cusi was an obscure figure—a technocrat who managed ports and airports, a bureaucrat known more for operational efficiency than for grand vision.
But in Rodrigo Duterte’s Philippines, where personal loyalty was valued more than competence, men like Cusi thrived. Duterte plucked him from near anonymity and installed him as Secretary of Energy in 2016, handing him the keys to the country’s energy lifeline.
That decision would shape one of the darkest chapters of crony capitalism in modern Philippine history.
The story of Cusi cannot be told without Dennis Uy, the Davao businessman who went from relative obscurity to one of the most powerful tycoons in the country in just a few years.
Uy was no ordinary entrepreneur; he was Duterte’s campaign financier, a donor whose millions helped propel the tough-talking mayor to Malacañang. Once Duterte took power, Uy’s empire exploded across industries—oil, shipping, casinos, telco, and finally energy.
To critics, Uy was not building an empire by merit. He was handed one, brick by brick, by a president who repaid loyalty with access to national assets.
The crown jewel of that empire was Malampaya. Supplying up to 40% of Luzon’s power, the offshore gas project is a strategic lifeline of the Philippine economy.
Yet under Cusi’s watch, this lifeline was quietly transferred to Uy’s Udenna Corporation.
The acquisitions of Chevron and Shell’s collective 90% stake should have been subjected to the strictest scrutiny. Instead, the Department of Energy under Cusi approved them despite glaring flaws: Udenna had negative capital, no technical experience, and no capacity to run such a sophisticated facility.
What Udenna had, however, was the favor of Rodrigo Duterte.
This was not mere negligence.
It was the textbook definition of graft. The Ombudsman has since charged Cusi and several DOE officials with violating Section 3(e) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act—giving “unwarranted benefits” to a private party through manifest partiality and bad faith. In other words, they rigged the system to favor Duterte’s crony.
The Malampaya scandal was not an isolated misstep but a window into how Duterte governed: national resources were treated as personal spoils, parceled out to friends and financiers while institutions looked the other way.
Uy’s links to China deepened the alarm.
In 2018, Udenna and Chelsea Logistics partnered with state-owned China Telecom to form Dito Telecommunity, Duterte’s pet project to break the “duopoly.”
Sold as reform, it was in fact a strategic concession: a Chinese state enterprise embedded directly into the Philippines’ communications backbone. From telco to casinos catering to Chinese gamblers, Uy’s ventures became conduits for Beijing’s money and influence. By the time he acquired Malampaya, critics saw the pattern: Duterte’s loyalty politics opened the country’s critical infrastructure to foreign leverage, with Uy as the middleman.
Cusi’s role was to sanctify these deals with the authority of the state.
When journalists exposed the rot, he lashed out, filing libel and cyberlibel cases in 2021 against reporters and outlets that dared link Duterte, Uy, and Malampaya.
It was a crude but telling gesture: the Duterte playbook always punished truth-tellers first.
Though the cases were later withdrawn, they revealed the extent to which the machinery of government would be weaponized not against corruption but against those who uncovered it.
The other half of Duterte’s shield was Ombudsman Samuel Martires.
Appointed in 2018, Martires systematically dismantled the tools of accountability. Lifestyle checks were scrapped. Access to Statements of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALNs)—the basic transparency mechanism to track illicit wealth—was restricted.
Critics and watchdogs were shut out.
In defending these moves, Martires claimed he was protecting officials from harassment. In reality, he was protecting Duterte’s circle from exposure. The Ombudsman’s office, meant to be the nation’s watchdog, became its lapdog.
Together, the triangle of Cusi, Uy, and Martires represents the anatomy of Duterte-era corruption: a Cabinet secretary who sold out the nation’s energy security, a crony who benefited from sweetheart deals and Chinese financing, and a watchdog who looked the other way.
And above them all loomed Rodrigo Duterte, whose presidency normalized impunity and cronyism on a scale unseen since Marcos.
From the bloody streets of the drug war to the boardrooms of Malampaya, Duterte’s governance was built not on institutions but on loyalty.
Those loyal to him were rewarded—contracts, franchises, monopolies. Those who challenged him were punished—journalists sued, critics harassed, human rights defenders killed.
The Philippines under Duterte was not merely corrupt; it was systematically corrupted, with the state itself retooled to serve a small circle of cronies.
Now, as Cusi faces graft charges and Uy’s empire struggles under mountains of debt, the edifice of Duterte-era cronyism is beginning to crack.
But the damage has been done.
The country’s energy lifeline was compromised, its communications backbone entangled with Beijing, its anti-corruption watchdog disarmed, and its democracy weakened by six years of crony rule.
History will record Duterte’s presidency as one of the most corrupt in Philippine history.
Duterte built his through loyalty. He left the Filipino people poorer, weaker, and less secure.
Cusi will be remembered as the enabler, Uy as the profiteer, Martires as the protector—and Duterte as the president who turned governance into a racket for friends, cronies, and foreign powers.
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Sources:
On Ombudsman charges vs. Cusi and Malampaya deal
Politiko. Ombudsman files graft case vs ex-Energy chief Cusi over Malampaya deal. August 29, 2025.
https://politiko.com.ph/2025/08/29/ombudsman-files-graft-case-vs-ex-energy-chief-cusi-over-malampaya-deal/headlines/
Politiko. A win for accountability: Gatchalian elated over indictment of Cusi, ex-DOE officials. August 30, 2025.
https://politiko.com.ph/2025/08/30/a-win-for-accountability-gatchalian-elated-over-indictment-of-cusi-ex-doe-officials/politiko-lokal/
Senate of the Philippines (Press Release). Gatchalian: Ombudsman’s indictment of Cusi, DOE officials proves Senate probe correct. December 10, 2024.
https://web.senate.gov.ph/press_release/2024/1210_gatchalian2.asp
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On Dennis Uy’s rise and links to Duterte
Rappler. How Dennis Uy became Duterte’s top campaign donor. October 2016.
https://www.rappler.com/business/dennis-uy-duterte-top-campaign-donor/
Philippine Daily Inquirer. Dennis Uy: From campaign donor to Duterte crony. October 2021.
https://business.inquirer.net/336771/dennis-uy-from-campaign-donor-to-duterte-crony
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On Uy’s China connections (Dito, China Telecom, casinos)
Reuters. China Telecom joins Philippine tycoon Uy to set up third telecoms player. November 2018.
https://www.reuters.com/article/china-telecom-philippines-idUSKCN1NK0MQ
Nikkei Asia. Dennis Uy’s Dito Telecommunity faces scrutiny over China Telecom role. February 2021.
https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Telecommunication/Duterte-ally-s-Dito-Telecommunity-faces-scrutiny-over-China-Telecom
Philippine Star. Dennis Uy, China firm to build $341-M Cebu casino resort. December 2017.
https://www.philstar.com/business/2017/12/06/1766022/dennis-uy-china-firm-build-341-m-cebu-casino-resort
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On Cusi’s libel suits vs. media
Power Philippines. Cusi files libel charges over Malampaya sale. December 2021.
https://powerphilippines.com/cusi-files-libel-charges-over-malampaya-sale/
Rappler. Cusi drops libel cases vs media over Malampaya articles. July 2022.
https://www.rappler.com/nation/cusi-withdraws-libel-cases-vs-media-malampaya-sale/
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On Ombudsman Samuel Martires curbing transparency
Rappler. Martires bans lifestyle checks on government officials. September 2020.
https://www.rappler.com/nation/martires-bans-lifestyle-checks-government-officials/
Rappler. Ombudsman limits public access to SALNs. September 2020.
https://www.rappler.com/nation/ombudsman-limits-public-access-salns/
Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ). Ombudsman secrecy: Shielding officials from accountability. October 2020.
https://pcij.org/article/3574/ombudsman-secrecy-shielding-officials-from-accountability
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