King of FCP.

 HARI NG FLOOD CONTROL PROJECTS SA PINAS.

Alex Abelido, owner of Legacy Construction, lives like royalty from profits reaped from flood control projects. He is one of a handful of Filipinos who owns a house in the famous Malibu City in California, known for its beautiful beaches and celebrities as residents.

He also owns a penthouse apartment overlooking the Central Park in New York City which is easily worth $20 million. He moves around in New York City in a chauffeur-driven Rolls Royce and flies on his own private jet.

He lavishes his girlfriend, Maria, with glittering gold and diamond jewelry and luxury bags and expensive clothing. And she flaunts these status symbol items on Instagram for people to envy.

Such is the life of Alex Abelido, owner and CEO of the Legacy Construction Corp. which earlier this week leaped to national prominence after his company came out as number one among 15 contractors that bagged P100 billion in flood control projects.

A scrutiny of the DPWH contracts awarded to Legacy during the Marcos administration were all flood control projects.

And based on initial findings by no less than President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr., most, if not all, of these projects that the DPWH had implemented were ghost projects.

Among the most recent contracts bagged by Legacy are the following:

May 22, 2025 - P94 million flood control project (or FCP for short) in Kawit, Cavite;

May 16, 2025 - P236 million FCP in San Jose, Occidental Mindoro;

February 18, 2025 - P95 million FCP in Ginatilan, Cebu;

January 6, 2025 - P232 million FCP in San Agustin, Tablas Island, Romblon;

December 27, 2024 - P230.8 million FCP in Naujan, Occidental Mindoro;

December 20, 2024 - P96 million FCP in Isabela, Negros Occidental; 

December 18, 2024 - P203 million FCP in Rizal River, Tablas Island, Romblon; 

December 18, 2024 - P277.6 million FCP in Paluan, Occidental Mindoro;

December 12, 2024 - P138.8 million FCP in Calintaan, Occidental Mindoro;

Just for these contracts over a six-month period starting December, 2024, Legacy had already cornered P1.6 billion!

And there are many more. All flood control projects. Worth billions of pesos. Public funds that were stolen. Abelido has definitely become the “King of Flood Control” projects, a title that he won from his closeness to Speaker Martin Romualdez.

Legacy is not a newcomer in the DPWH circle of contractors with questionable track records. In 2018, it was already ranked number 10 among the biggest contractors (in terms of amount in contracts) of the DPWH.

But during the Marcos administration, Legacy swiftly dethroned the leaders of the pack to become number one, overtaking Sarah Discaya and Zaldy Co. Upon the recommendation of DPWH Secretary Manuel Bonoan, Abelido was able to win the favored-status position in the award of the FCP using pork barrel funds that Romualdez had carved out for himself, and his first cousin, the President.

With money flowing in like a flash flood, Abelido also stepped up on his ostentatious lifestyle: he bought a house in Malibu to live alongside the rich and famous, a luxury penthouse apartment overlooking Manhattan’s Central Park, a private jet, Rolls Royce limousine, and more trappings of wealth.

His girlfriend, a former hotel receptionist, drives a Porsche, wears gold and diamond jewelry, collects luxury bags, dines at the most expensive restaurants. She brags about them on social media.

Alex operates Legacy with his brother, Raymond. According to Bacolod City Rep. Albee Benitez, the brothers originally came from Victorias City, Negros Occidental. The Abelido brothers have made Romblon their new home and turned it into a fiefdom of sorts where they play the role of generous benefactors.

The PR storyline of Alex and Raymond is about two successful businessmen who care about the people of Romblon. They have put up a poultry farm for egg production and a cattle raising venture to help achieve food security in the province.

They portray themselves as philanthropists looking after the welfare of the local population of a province best known for marble.

But in return, the Abelidos turned Romblon into a fiefdom where almost all DPWH projects there, to include Tablas Island, fall into their laps.

political blogger/jys