The Office of the Ombudsman has filed three counts of graft against former Pampanga 3rd District Rep. Aurelio “Dong” Gonzales Jr. before the Sandiganbayan over conflict-of-interest accusations tied to government infrastructure projects.
The filing pushes long-running questions over Gonzales’ political position and his family’s construction interests into formal criminal proceedings. Gonzales, a civil engineer and businessman, served five nonconsecutive terms in Congress and became deputy speaker under then-House Speaker Martin Romualdez, who regarded him as a close political ally.
Scrutiny intensified over infrastructure contracts secured by businesses connected to the Gonzales family. Companies linked to his children obtained around ₱900 million in Department of Public Works and Highways contracts while Gonzales was serving as Pampanga representative.
Among them was A.D. Gonzales Jr. Construction and Trading Company Inc., a family-linked firm that secured four flood control projects from 2023 to 2024, based on data available through the Department of Social Welfare and Development online infrastructure tracker.
The arrangement raised conflict-of-interest questions because Gonzales was simultaneously serving in Congress while members of his immediate family had business interests benefiting from government infrastructure spending. Philippine laws prohibit public officials from holding certain financial interests in government transactions, although family ownership of a contractor does not automatically establish a violation.
The Sandiganbayan Judicial Records Division confirmed that Ombudsman personnel filed the three graft cases on Oct. 16. The cases are set to be raffled to a division of the anti-graft court, where prosecutors will be required to establish the accusations against Gonzales.
Gonzales previously welcomed an Ombudsman investigation and maintained that an earlier complaint involving infrastructure projects had been dismissed for lack of merit. The filing of three graft counts now places the issue directly before the Sandiganbayan.
