CEBU Gov. Pamela Baricuatro denied receiving a sports utility vehicle gift from the owner of QM Builders, saying the one she is using now is borrowed from a close friend.
Baricuatro also admitted that Allan Quirante, owner of the Cebu-based firm QM Builders, is an “old friend” of hers.
Baricuatro’s clarifications came days after former governor Gwendolyn Garcia said that an official in Cebu received a “gray bulletproof Land Cruiser” from Quirante.
The QM Builders is one of the contractors who bagged the most number of flood control projects from 2022 to 2025 nationwide.
Baricuatro, in a press conference on Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025, said the gray bulletproof Land Cruiser she is currently using is owned by her close friend who is a lawyer.
“It’s an old Land Cruiser that I’ve been using since we won. It was lent by our family friends, a lawyer,” Baricuatro said.
During the press conference, Baricuatro presented an official receipt from the Land Transportation Office Sogod Extension Office in Southern Leyte under the name Rossil Olaivar Paranas with a date received on Feb. 20, 2025.
The Land Cruiser’s classification is private. It has the color grey and a year model of 2018.
Baricuatro said her friend is concerned about her safety after receiving a death threat during the campaign period; thus, she was lent the SUV.
She said she is currently using it since she has yet to receive her government-issued vehicle.
Garcia, in her press conference last Monday, Sept. 8, did not name the official she claimed was given a bulletproof SUV.
Garcia’s remarks came amid rumors of her alleged connections to contractors under scrutiny for corruption in flood control projects. / CDF