Centerways, AREMAR bag P33-billion DPWH projects in Bicol
Sorsogon City- Two Sorsogon-based construction companies which are among the biggest contractors in Bicol Region, if not nationwide, bagged a total of P33 billion worth of government infrastructure contracts in the past ten years in Bicol Region alone, data from government websites showed.
Centerways Construction and Development Inc, owned by Lawrence Lubiano, had P21.6 billion worth of projects while AREMAR Construction Corporation had P11.8 billion for a combined total of P33.4 billion from 2016 to 2025, the period published in the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) web site. .
Lubiano’s Centerways is in the middle of the flood-control controversy as it is being linked to former Senate President Chiz Escudero who received a P30-million campaign contribution from the contractor during the 2022 elections. This matter is now under investigation by the Commission on Elections (COMELEC).
Political pedigrees
The Lubianos themselves are no stranger to politics as two of Lubiano’s siblings are both politically active in the province.
Chuck is the mayor of world-famous whaleshark town of Donsol, Sorsogon, and Lester is a member of the Sorsogon City council and also the owner of L Bros Construction and Supply.
Meanwhile the AREMAR Construction Corporation is owned by the family of Sorsogon Governor Edwin Hamor whose members are also politically active.
Hamor is the provincial chairman ofthe Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC), political party of Escudero and his sister, First District Rep. Bernadette Escudero-Quirante, Second District Rep. Manuel Fortez and all the mayors of the province.
The governor’s wife, Esther, is the mayor of Sorsogon City, the capital of the province. His sister, Grace, is the newly elected mayor of Irosin town, famous for its hot springs, while his daughter, Minez, inherited the mayoralty post of Casiguran town, the birthplace of the governor and where his political career started in 1998. A daughter of City Mayor Hamor, Thess Hamor-Gonzales, is an incumbent city councilor while a relative of the governor’s son-in-law is the city federation president of the Sangguniang Kabataan.
Centerways’ haul
Based on the data gathered by Bicol Files from the DPWH and Sumbong sa Pangulo websites, Lubiano’s Centerways had a total of ₱ 21,592,611,846.27 worth of government infrastructure contracts spanning 10 years, a big bulk of which were for flood control projects.
In 2016, Centerways only had P92 million worth of contracts and went down to P63 million in 2017. But in 2018 it suddenly rose by 1000 percent to P630 million and breached the P1 billion mark the following year with a P1.4 billion government infrastructure contracts. All of the company’s contracts that year were obtained after Senator Escudero assumed as governor of Sorsogon.
In 2020, the company’s luck continued with a P1.5 billion worth of projects and further rose to P2.2 billion in 2021. Its lucky streak peaked in 2022 with a P5.3 billion haul, the year when Escudero went back to the Senate.
In 2023, Centerways’ projects went down to P3.4 billion and went up again to P4.8 billion in 2024 and down again to P2.2 billion this year.
A big bulk of Lubiano’s projects were on flood control infrastructures starting in 2017 with only one such project costing P14.3 million then suddenly ballooned to P426.2 million in 2018, went up to P603.6 million in 2019 and again in 2020 at P637.7 million and further to P973.5 million 2021.
In 2022, the year Escudero went back to the Senate, Centerways’ flood control contracts breached the P1-billion mark with a P1.3 billion worth of contracts then peaked the following year 2023 at P2.6 billion. It went down to P1.3 billion in 2023 and slightly rose to P1.7 billion this year, 2025.
Centerways’ projects are scattered all over Bicol Region except in Catanduanes, but it has some projects in Cebu Province, particularly in the 7th District under Rep. Patricia Calderon.
Based on the Project and Contract Management App of the DPWH, Centerways’ first project in the district was in 2023 worth P96.3 million when it was still under Rep. Peter John Calderon before he was replaced by his wife during the 2025 elections.
The firm contracted another three projects in 2024 worth a total of P173.7 million and further increased to P443.7 million in 2025 for a total of P1.1 billion, jacking up its aggregate contract to P22.7 billion.
Another Lubiano firm
Another Lubiano family construction firm, the L Bros Construction and Supply, is also actively engaged in government infrastructure and now has a total contract of more than a billion since it started in 2018.
It is owned by Lester Lubiano, Lawrence’s brother and a second-term member of the Sorsogon City council.
Based on the same on-line sources, L Bros had P285 million worth of contracts in 2018; P83.6 million in 2019; P187.8 million in 2020; P207 million in 2021; P355.5 million in 2022 and P56 million in 20424 for a total of P1.2 billion.
This brought the total amount of government contracts of the Lubianos to P23.9 billion over a ten-year period or an average of P2.39 billion annually.
AREMAR’s share
Meanwhile, the AREMAR company had accumulated some ₱11,853,849,971.35 under its name starting in 2018 when the company started its operation in the province.
A perusal of the AREMAR’s record in the DPWH and Sumbong sa Pangulo websites, majority of the firm’s contracts dealt with road constructions, road maintenance, flood control projects and tourism road infrastructure program (TRIP).
Based on the available records on-line, the construction firm had an aggregate contract for preventive maintenance amounting to P1.8 billion, TRIP projects worth P1.3 billion and flood-control projects worth P1.8 billion. In the DPWH website, no specific locations were cited for most 0f the TRIP projects making it difficult to check them out.
AREMAR was also the contractor of the road networks in the towns of Bulan (P98 million), Gubat (P48 million), Bulusan and Santa Magdalena (P59 million), Matnog (48 million) and Sorsogon City (P67.2 million).
The Hamor-owned company first appeared in the PCMA in 2018 with ₱753.9 worth of infrastructure contracts but went down in 2019 to just ₱28 million and skyrocketed to P1.03 billion the following year.
In 2021, the firm had a contract worth ₱1.3 billion; 2022 at ₱1.3 billion; 2023 at ₱1,1 billion and peaked in 2024 at P3.3 billion before going down slightly this year, 2025, at P3.1 billion.
Prior to AREMAR’s operation, Hamor was known to partner with the Manila-based construction firm B. Vicencio which had a P731.2 million worth of contracts in Bicol in 2016 and P397.3 million in 2017.
In 2019, AREMAR was embroiled in a controversy when then Cong. Rolando Andaya, Jr. of Camarines Sur initiated a probe into the company’s transactions alleging, among others, that AREMAR had undue advantage then in sourcing out infrastructure contracts because of the Hamors’ relationship with then Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno. Andaya died three years later.
Based on a Rappler report, one of the company’s stockholders, Romeo Sicat, Jr., is the husband of Diokno’s daughter, Charlotte Justine. The probe eventually “absolved” Hamor from the accusations.
Efforts to get the side of Centerways and AREMAR had been futile as there were no replies yet from their end as of posting time. Bicol Files