September 11, 2025 — Manila, Philippines — House Deputy Minority Leader and Mamamayang Liberal (ML) party-list Rep. Leila de Lima has warned that she may file an impeachment complaint against Commission on Audit (COA) Commissioner Mario Lipana, following revelations that his wife’s company secured over P500 million worth of contracts with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
During Thursday’s budget briefing, De Lima said the issue presents a “real conflict of interest” and falls under constitutional grounds for impeachment.
“Yes, it is also clear in the Constitution that members of constitutional commissions, like COA, may be removed only by impeachment. And resignation, of course, is voluntary. No one can force it,” De Lima stressed.
She urged COA Chairperson Gamaliel Cordoba to confront Lipana, who has been on medical leave since August and is expected to return by late September.
“Please talk to him once he reports back to office; otherwise, one of us or some of us may initiate impeachment proceedings against him, because it clearly falls under betrayal of public trust and even graft and corruption,” she added.
Lipana’s wife, Marilou Laurio Lipana, serves as president and general manager of Olympus Mining and Builders Group Philippines, a company that won contracts in Bulacan amounting to P505 million. These include nine flood control and farm-to-market road projects worth P326.6 million, as well as two completed flood control projects valued at P178.5 million.
House Deputy Minority Leader and ACT Teachers Rep. Antonio Tinio also pressed for Lipana’s resignation, calling the situation a blatant violation of the Constitution.
“There’s no doubt here — this is a clear breach of the Constitution,” Tinio said, referring to Article IX, Section 2, which prohibits members of constitutional commissions from having direct or indirect financial interests in government contracts.
Tinio further criticized the commissioner’s absence, noting: “While he has been receiving medical treatment in Singapore for months, his wife has been profiting millions from government contracts. This is not just a conflict of interest — this is a mockery of our Constitution.”
He added that the controversy has damaged public trust in the COA. “Many of our people are dismayed, asking, ‘Where is COA? Are they asleep at the wheel? Or worse, complicit?’ Now, we have a commissioner with a clear financial stake in flood control contracts explicitly prohibited by law.”
Tinio concluded: “The Constitution is clear, the COA Chair’s admission is clear, and the solution must be equally clear: Commissioner Lipana must resign immediately.”
