Ownership of 4 California properties linked to top flood control contractor

LOS ANGELES – The ownership of at least four properties in Southern California has been linked to Alex Abelido, president of Legacy Construction Corporation, one of the top contractors for the controversial flood control projects currently under investigation in the Philippines.

Property records show the total value of the four properties was $4.595 million or an estimated P260 million at the time they were purchased between 2018 and 2024.

The properties were acquired after Legacy Construction cornered  billions of pesos worth of government projects under the administrations of former President Rodrigo Duterte and President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr.

The Department of Justice has issued an immigration lookout bulletin order (ILBO) against Abelido, his brother and business partner Raymund and 41 other contractors and officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) allegedly linked to anomalous flood-control projects.

The ILBO instructs immigration officers to closely monitor the travel of those on the watchlist

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The properties located in Orange and Los Angeles counties were sold to various corporations registered with the California Secretary of State, where Abelido holds one or two of the following positions: manager, chief executive officer and chief finance officer.

Two months after Legacy Properties Group Corporation was registered in California in 2024, it purchased the property in Garden Grove, California, for $ 1.1 million. The corporation lists Abelido as CEO and CFO.

The three-bedroom, two-bathroom house with a floor area of 1,597 square feet has been listed as the address of 14 business entities linked to Abelido.

The property in Palos Verdes in Los Angeles County – a three-bedroom, two-bath house with a total floor area of 1,605 square feet and located in an upscale neighborhood near the Palos Verdes Golf Club – is owned by the 3205 Legacy LLC and listed as the address of Abelido in documents filed with the California Secretary of State. The property was listed for sale in March 2018 and sold after 48 days for $1.425 million.

The Garden Grove and Laguna Niguel properties in Orange County were purchased in 2022, according to public records. The Garden Grove property – a two-bedroom, two-bath house with a floor area of 965 square feet – was last sold for $785,000. It is registered under Skylark Legacy LLC,  where Abelido serves as CEO and manager.

A & C Property Group LLC is listed as the property owner of the Laguna Niguel house, which was last sold for $1.285 million. It was listed for rent in the second half of 2023.

A & C Property Group LLC is listed as the property owner of this Laguna Niguel house. Photo from Realtor.com

Public records revealed 19 limited liability and general corporations linked to Abelido.

Most of these corporations, all registered in California, are engaged in real estate, property management or rental business.

While Abelido is not named in Skylark Builders’ documents filed with the Secretary of State, his business partners James Alexander Jison and Jason Cabalinan serve as manager, secretary, director or agent of the corporation. Both Abelido and Cabalinan are from Negros Occidental.

The newest corporations, Legacy Drilling LLC and GMP Legacy Drilling LLC, were registered July 23 this year.

Legacy Construction Corporation is among the 15 contractors that cornered big-ticket projects under the Marcos administration amounting to P100 billion or 20 percent of the total P545 billion flood control projects from July 2022 to May 2025.

President Marcos has said initial findings suggest many of Legacy’s projects, including those in Cavite, Occidental Mindoro, Cebu and Romblon, were either incomplete or nonexistent.