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Neil Jayson Servallos - The Philippine Star
July 26, 2026 | 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — The Office of the Ombudsman has filed criminal charges against USWAG Ilonggo party-list Rep. James Ang Jr. and former Sultan Kudarat representative Arnulfo Go before the Sandiganbayan over alleged conflicts of interest linked to government infrastructure projects.
The Sandiganbayan has officially processed and raffled graft and malversation charges against Ang and Go and several others, following their formal indictments by the ombudsman.
According to a Sandiganbayan raffle document dated July 25, the court has handled the distribution of 14 separate cases against Ang to its various divisions.
Ang faces 14 counts of violating Section 3(h) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, which concerns conflict of interest.
Section 3(h) of RA 3019 explicitly prohibits public officials from having a direct or indirect financial or pecuniary interest in any business, contract or transaction that they intervene or participate in under their official capacity.
The ombudsman has confirmed that Ang was among the lawmakers subjected to a preliminary investigation due to alleged ties with construction firms that secured lucrative government contracts.
Ang has denied the allegations.
During the same 11 a.m. raffle yesterday, the Sandiganbayan also distributed four criminal cases filed against Go.
Based on the court’s records, Go and three former local officials from the municipality of Lebak, Sultan Kudarat, are facing two counts of graft for alleged violation of Section 3(e) of Republic Act 3019, alongside two counts of malversation of public funds under Article 217 of the Revised Penal Code.
Section 3(e) penalizes officials for playing favorites or acting with reckless negligence, ultimately harming the government or giving unwarranted benefits to private individuals.
Charged are former Lebak municipal mayor Dionesio Besana, municipal accountant Allan Bayani and municipal treasurer Mario Labrador.
Conflict of interest
The Office of the Ombudsman has confirmed the filing of the charges and condemned what it described as widespread and brazen violation of constitutional limits on lawmakers’ business dealings.
It cited Ang’s alleged financial stake in a construction firm that secured P214 million worth of contracts from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) while he was actively serving as congressman. Of the awarded amount, the company has already been paid nearly P199 million for the projects.
“The Constitution is clear: no lawmaker may be financially interested in a government contract during his term,” the statement read.
“Conflict of interest is not a gray area. It does not require proof that a deal was rigged or that cash changed hands – only that a public official profited, or stood to profit, from a government contract while in office,” it added.
No stopping Ping
Sen. Panfilo Lacson has denied singling out Taguig, the political turf of Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano, in his investigations on alleged ghost flood control projects.
In radio interviews on Friday, Lacson said more documentary evidence and witness testimonies are coming his way since he announced his plan to dig up more dirt on Cayetano, who had previously questioned Lacson’s integrity in his Facebook Live.
“Attack my integrity and I will get back at you,” Lacson said over dzMM.
Lacson said he merely “prioritized” the alleged anomalous projects in Taguig following his word war with Cayetano.
“Well, he (Cayetano) can say I’m zeroing in on Taguig. But I’m just prioritizing it because he was making noise,” he said.
Lacson bared more details about the alleged irregularities in Taguig, citing “overlapping spans” that still received funding, allowing contractors and their cohorts to siphon millions in public funds for kickbacks.
These allegedly anomalous projects were part of Cayetano’s P2.385-billion funding for slope protection and drainage projects tucked in his P6.79-billion “budget insertion” in the 2025 national budget.
Lacson accused Cayetano of having three “bagmen” in these alleged transactions.
“If it was a series of acts of at least P50 million then that leads to plunder,” Lacson said.
Toned down
Cayetano went on his usual Facebook Live on Friday on a calmer tone, far from his previous tirades criticizing Lacson and Sen. Erwin Tulfo and calling them the administration’s “attack dogs” for their plan to launch a Blue Ribbon probe on him.
Cayetano denied the allegations of ghost projects, saying officials from the DPWH have already conducted an inspection and ruled out any anomaly.
Cayetano vowed to face all pending charges against him, including the upcoming National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) upcoming probe on alleged disbursement irregularities in the country’s hosting of the 2019 Southeast Asian Games which he helped organize.
“I continue to wait for the specific allegations then I will face them,” he added. — Marc Jayson Cayabyab
