DOH undersecretary’s brother lands P141 million in health infrastructure projects

Barely a year after Glenn Mathew Baggao was appointed undersecretary of the Department of Health (DOH) under the Marcos administration, his brother had won five multimillion-peso health infrastructure projects, raising the issue of conflict of interest, Rappler’s investigation found. 

In 2025 alone, EGB Construction, which is owned by Baggao’s brother Erni, was awarded contracts to build super health centers and district hospitals with a combined value of P140.99 million. 

Baggao, who hails from Isabela, was named by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. as DOH undersecretary for the Public Health Services Cluster in 2024. That same year, he received the Civil Service Commission’s Presidential Lingkod Bayan Award.

His brother’s EGB Construction, meanwhile, first gained national attention after President Marcos identified it in August 2025 as among the 15 contractors that had cornered most flood control projects across the country. 

During a Senate blue ribbon committee hearing on September 18, 2025, Senator Erwin Tulfo accused Erni of being the real owner of Wawao Builders, a firm behind several alleged ghost flood control projects in Bulacan. Erni denied the allegation.

EGB has ventured beyond flood control projects and into health infrastructure.

It secured five health infrastructure projects worth P140.99 million in 2025: three from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and two from the Isabela provincial government.

• Maconacon Super Health Center in Isabela – P5.96 million (awarded by DPWH)
• Divilacan Super Health Center in Isabela – P11.93 million (awarded by DPWH)
• Oriental Mindoro Central District Hospital – P63.14 million (awarded by DPWH)
• Manuel A. Roxas District Hospital – P29.98 million (awarded by Isabela provincial government)
• Echague District Hospital – P29.98 million (awarded by Isabela provincial government)

Conflict of interest

Also in 2025, Baggao was reassigned from being undersecretary for the Public Health Services Cluster to undersecretary for the Universal Health Care–Health Services Cluster (UHC-HSC), overseeing Northern, Central, and Southern Luzon.

His assignment places him in charge of areas where several EGB health infrastructure projects are located.

A DOH order states that the UHC-HSC implements the health sector’s eight-point action agenda through regional centers for health development in coordination with local governments, civil society groups, and other government agencies.

In 2026, Baggao was also appointed as head of the Health Facilities Enhancement Program (HFEP) Management Office. 

His office, according to DOH Department Order No. 2019-0082, is responsible “for the development, implementation, and monitoring of plans, policies, and strategies for capital outlay investments such as infrastructure, equipment, and transport for government health facilities.” It also provides technical assistance to stakeholders and conducts national monitoring and evaluation of HFEP projects.

Eirene Jhone Aguila, a lawyer and good governance advocate, noted that while a public official may neither be a bids and awards committee member nor the head of the procuring entity, the official may still influence the decision of the institution he or she is in.

“Sometimes, there are overlapping shared functions. They blur the lines,” Aguila said.

The anti-graft law also prohibits conflict of interest, but limits it to contracts where the public official “intervenes or takes part in his/her official capacity.”

Section 13, Article VII, of the Constitution prohibits the president, vice president, members of the Cabinet, and their deputies or assistants, from having direct or indirect financial interest in any government contract.

The Constitution also clearly states that these officials “shall strictly avoid conflict of interest in the conduct of their office.”

Under Republic Act (RA) No. 6713 or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees, conflict of interest “arises when a public official or employee is a member of a board, an officer, or a substantial stockholder of a private corporation or owner or has a substantial interest in a business, and the interest of such corporation or business, or his rights or duties therein, may be opposed to or affected by the faithful performance of official duty.”

Rappler sought comment from EGB through the email address listed in its general information sheet with the Securities and Exchange Commission as early as January, but has not received any response to date. Rappler also reached out to Baggao’s DOH office and sent several follow-ups, but did not get a reply. This story will be updated once they respond. 

Baggao as hospital chief, brother as contractor

Before Baggao joined the DOH, his brother’s EGB had already been into health-related projects but at the local level. During that time, Baggao headed the health facilities involved. 

Prior to his appointment as undersecretary, he was the chief of the government-owned tertiary hospital Cagayan Valley Medical Center (CVMC) starting in 2018. He was also the chief of medical facilities in Isabela and the Cordillera Administrative Region. 

During Baggao’s stint in Cagayan, EGB was awarded at least six contracts with the DPWH for the construction of health facilities worth P408 million. 

One contract, dated September 14, 2020, involved a P28-million project for medical facilities for COVID-19 patients and health workers.

The contract showed that the project was implemented under a memorandum between Baggao, in his capacity as CVMC chief, and DPWH Cagayan Valley, represented by Loreta Malaluan, “in view of the existing emergency health situation.”

The project was awarded through negotiated procurement, which allows the government agency to directly negotiate a contract with a capable supplier to speed up the process. This is allowed in some situations, such as an emergency like the pandemic.

Aguila flagged this project because of the nature of the contract. 

“Even without proving illegality, that structure is already a conflict-of-interest risk: the public officer who is a party to the implementation MOA is the sibling of the winning contractor — and the award was through negotiated procurement,” Aguila told Rappler. 

The Cagayan Provincial Information Office reported that Baggao, as CVMC chief, pushed for a 10-Year Hospital Development Plan, which involves the rehabilitation of buildings, facilities, and the purchase of additional medical equipment.

Expansion beyond Cagayan

In 2022 — the election year when Marcos won the presidency — EGB’s government contracts surged to P184.7 million. 

These contracts covered the construction of the New Cavite Naval Hospital (Level 1) and a satellite hospital building for the Ilocos Training and Regional Medical Center.

The Cavite hospital contract was signed on April 5, 2022, about a month before the elections. Meanwhile, the Ilocos project contract was signed on May 16, 2022, just days after the polls.

In 2024, EGB bagged a P269.98-million contract to build the regional office (located in Ilocos Sur) of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation, a government-owned and controlled corporation attached to the DOH. The contract was awarded on January 5, 2024.

The DOH’s infrastructure projects under HFEP are listed under the National Expenditure Program and eventually the General Appropriations Act (GAA) or national budget.

Under the 2024 GAA, the DPWH is responsible for implementing infrastructure projects for all centers for health development and healthcare facilities under the HFEP costing more than P5 million. This means that the DPWH is responsible for the bidding of the projects. 

Ties with other politicontractors in Ilocos

EGB Construction has links with other politicontractor families in Northern Luzon, including the Salazar-Guillen clan of Piddig, Ilocos Norte, and the Diaz family of Ilagan City, Isabela.

EGB partnered with Solid North Construction and North Tech Builders and Construction Supply in the construction of the Ilocos Training and Regional Medical Center Satellite Hospital in Candon City, Ilocos Sur.

Solid North Construction is owned by John Patrick Salazar, a municipal councilor in Piddig, Ilocos Norte. North Tech Builders, meanwhile, is owned by his parents, Piddig Vice Mayor Edwin Salazar and Maribeth Salazar.

The Salazar family is also linked to several Ilocos Norte politicians who themselves operate construction firms.

Edwin’s sister, Piddig Mayor Georgina Guillen, owns Springold Construction & Trading. Her husband, National Irrigation Administration (NIA) chief Eddie Guillen, previously owned Eddie G. Guillen Builders.

Their children, who are also elected officials, run construction businesses as well. 

Rappler also earlier reported that EGB Construction entered into a joint venture with Dragon Twelve Builders & Construction Supply, a firm owned by the brother of Ilagan City Mayor Jay Diaz.

Glenn and Erni’s sister Joji Baggao-Borromeo is a councilor in Ilagan City, Isabela. In the 2025 midterm elections, she ran as part of the slate of Mayor Diaz under Marcos’ Partido Federal ng Pilipinas.

From 2022 to 2025, EGB and Dragon Twelve secured around P150 million worth of flood control projects through joint ventures.

In 2023, the two companies also donated motorcycles during the Christmas party of the Isabela provincial government. Both EGB and Dragon Twelve won contracts from the Isabela provincial government.

Delays in project completion 

At least eight of the 13 health infrastructure projects awarded to EGB from 2016 to 2025 were in its home region, Cagayan Valley. Two others are in the Ilocos Region and one each in Central Luzon, Calabarzon, and Mimaropa.

Of these, four were not completed on time, based on information from the DPWH Transparency Portal.

Two were eventually completed. The other two remain under construction: the Divilacan Super Health Center and the Maconacon Super Health Center, both in Isabela.

Overall, from 2016 to 2025, EGB secured P567.87 million worth of contracts for health buildings and facilities. 

Who owns the company?

EGB is entirely owned and run by the Baggao family. Erni serves as the company’s president with 70% of shares. Erni’s wife Caroline serves as the company treasurer with 7.5% of shares. 

Their children — Ellen Christine, Elinor Christy, and Christian Erni — each hold 7.5% of shares and serve as company directors or officers.

Erni was appointed for a three-year term as a board member of the Philippine Contractors Accreditation Board in September 2023. PCAB is responsible for issuing or revoking licenses of contractors.

Erni also serves as the general manager of Isabela Electric Cooperative II, the power provider in the northern half of the province.

Other conflict-of-interest issue

In the Senate blue ribbon committee’s investigation into flood control projects, Senator Panfilo Lacson also previously flagged Erni’s role in PCAB as a potential conflict of interest.

“Under Section 7 of RA 6713, public officials during their incumbency shall not own, control, or manage any private enterprise regulated or licensed by their office; nor engage in the private practice of their profession,” Lacson said.

Erni stepped down from PCAB in September 2025 at the height of the flood control scandal investigation.

Following this issue of conflict of interest, Department of Trade and Industry Secretary Cristina Roque said the DTI will no longer allow PCAB members to own a construction company.

Meanwhile, Undersecretary Baggao, along with Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa and two other health officials, is also facing allegations of bid rigging. Last March 6, a complaint was filed with the Office of the Ombudsman over the procurement of P1.8 billion worth of primary care facilities.

Baggao is not the first undersecretary to be linked to a government contractor. In December 2025, Rappler reported that the company owned by Justice Undersecretary Jojo Cadiz’s young son won multimillion-peso infrastructure projects in Ilocos Norte. 

Other Marcos appointees from Ilocos — including former DPWH secretary Manuel Bonoan and NIA chief Eddie Guillen — were also linked to the infrastructure corruption controversy. Rappler, in December 2025, documented Guillen’s extensive ties to government contractors. – Rappler.com

Could there be more Cabinet officials or politicians tied to companies winning government projects? Send your tips to investigative@rappler.com.