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Ranier Allan Ronda - The Philippine Star
December 12, 2025 | 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — There was no conflict of interest when his family’s construction firm Nationstar Development Corp. bagged a contract with the government, Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR) chairman and CEO Alejandro Tengco said yesterday.
“There is no conflict of interest because under the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act (RA 3019) and the Code of Conduct of Government Employees (RA 6713), conflict of interest occurs when a public official has direct or indirect financial or pecuniary interest in any business contract or transaction in which they must intervene in their official capacity,” Tengco said in a statement.
He was disputing a Rappler article that implied his closeness to the family of President Marcos had enabled the Nationstar Development Corp., which he founded in 2015, to win government contracts, particularly with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
“For one, my position as chairman and CEO of PAGCOR has no direct or indirect influence in the awarding of public works contracts to Nationstar,” he said.
“For another, I have fully divested all my interests in Nationstar when I assumed the top PAGCOR post in 2022, thus eliminating any potential conflict of interest. I actually started divesting my holdings to my children in 2019,” he added.
In the Rappler report, the profits of Nationstar – now owned by the PAGCOR chief’s three children – have tripled since 2022 when he was named chief of the state gaming operator.
He said that it is up to Congress to determine whether there are existing gaps in laws regarding conflict of interest laws. Tengco said he entered the construction business way back in 1996, and founded Nationstar in 2015.
“As a legitimate business entity, Nationstar has previous and ongoing contracts with both the government and the private sector, including many local government units,” he said.
During the previous Aquino and Duterte administrations, Nationstar executed retrofit and fit-out works based on specifications “and with high quality standard” at the Malacañang premier guest house and the Presidential Management Staff building.
“These projects have established our goodwill or reputation in the industry and thus, the subsequent projects awarded to us,” he said.
During the pandemic, Nationstar was also contracted by the Duterte administration to build modular hospitals all over the country, he said.
In recent years, Tengco said Nationstar has completed a number of private contracts including the Senior High School building for Ateneo de Manila, along with other public-run schools nationwide, which qualified the company for the Western Visayas State University project, also cited by Rappler as one of the questionable contracts won by Nationstar.
“Nationstar also completed the retrofit and fit-out of Meralco’s headquarters just a year ago, both to show that it has easily passed vetting by both public and private institutions,” Tengco said.
“It must also be noted that although Nationstar has secured DPWH projects through fair and impartial bids, none is related to flood control projects or even the so-called ghost projects, another testament to the company’s track record and professional integrity,” he said.
He likewise clarified that the Davao City bypass road project cited by the online publication was not won by Nationstar alone because it was too big for the company to undertake on its own.
“We joined a consortium which included the China Road and Bridges Corp. because they have the capability to undertake such big project, and the consortium won the bid, not Nationstar,” he said.
“Singling out my close ties with the Marcos family would thus seem very selective, and distorts the efforts of Nationstar to engage in legitimate business activities regardless of partisan political considerations,” he said.
