SAN FRANCISCO, Agusan del Sur (MindaNews / 24 Sept) — Questions are mounting over whether Rep. Romeo Momo (Surigao del Sur, 1st District) has conflict of interest being a legislator in control of government public works budget and his family’s construction firm repeatedly cornering multimillion-peso projects with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
Former Cantilan mayor Carla Lopez-Pichay in Surigao del Sur and former Negros Oriental representative Jacinto Paras (1st District) have gone public, urging government watchdogs to probe Momo’s ties to Surigao La Suerte Corp., a company owned by his son Ruel and headed by another sibling, Rommel.
“This is the conflict of interest that must be answered,” Pichay said in a statement sent via direct message to this reporter. “While entrusted with influence over public infrastructure, Rep. Momo’s immediate family has repeatedly secured public works contracts. That pattern, across his successive government positions, raises serious ethical and legal questions about using public office for private gain.”
Paras, who served in Congress from 1998 to 2007 and later became a presidential adviser under former President Rodrigo Duterte, was more blunt. “That is prohibited under the law and the Constitution. That’s a conflict of interest. It seems you haven’t read the Constitution,” he wrote in a comment on Momo’s Facebook page.
The latest firestorm was triggered by a viral post from radio host-blogger Jhun Arisa, showing Momo aboard an aircraft with Butuan Rep. Jose Aquino and Misamis Oriental Rep. Bambi Emano. Momo quickly dismissed the claim, clarifying that the plane was registered to Palawan Rep. Pepito Alvarez.
He branded the post as “fake news” and alleged it was operated by a dummy account tied to Pichay. She immediately fired back: “I demand a full retraction of his defamatory statement linking me to a dummy account.”
The Pichays and the Momos have been locked in a bruising rivalry since the 2022 elections, with Momo allied with Gov. Johnny Pimentel and Rep. Alexander Pimentel against the Pichay clan.
Momo, chair of the House Committee on Public Works and Highways and co-chair of the Joint Congressional Oversight Committee on Public Works, has denied any wrongdoing.
“There is none because I am not part of the corporation, and besides, they are not doing business in my district,” Momo said in a text message, referring to Surigao La Suerte Corp.
He denied funneling ₱1.1 billion worth of projects to the firm, saying the contracts cited were in the 2nd District under then-Rep. Johnny Pimentel. He further explained that road and slope protection projects in Carmen, Tandag, and Cortes were awarded before he became representative of the 1st District, during Prospero Pichay’s term, though at the time he was already serving as party-list representative of the Construction Workers Solidarity.
On allegations of budget “insertions” tied to Ako Bicol Rep. Zaldy Co, Momo said: “The so-called ghost projects can only be carried out by DPWH personnel in charge of implementation,” adding that contractor payments require the approval of at least 10 DPWH officials.
But a Bilyonaryo News Channel report on Sept. 12 revealed that Surigao La Suerte Corp. cornered 31 DPWH projects worth ₱1.1 billion across Caraga from 2017 to 2024. Momo’s wife, Eleanor, meanwhile, is the vice mayor of Tandag City, Ruel a provincial board member in the first district and Melanie Joy Momo-Guno, an ex-officio provincial board member representing the provincial federation of barangay captains, further entrenching the family’s influence in both politics and business.
To refute Momo’s claim that the firm has no contracts in the 1st District, Pichay presented a DPWH-issued “Notice to Proceed” addressed to Rommel Momo, president of Surigao La Suerte Corp., for the supply of 35,270 liters of diesel and 5,000 liters of gasoline for the service vehicles and equipment of the district engineering office on July 12, 2024.
In March 21, 2023, the firm, still under the management of Ruel, secured 26,185 liters of diesel fuel, amounting to ₱2,067,305.75.
Pichay has urged oversight bodies to investigate all DPWH contracts awarded to Momo’s family during his time in public office. “Public office is a public trust. The people of Surigao del Sur and the Filipino public deserve answers, not distractions,” she said. (Chris V. Panganiban / MindaNews)
