House panel chair says they’re among ‘most guilty’
CONTRACTORS Cezarah Rowena “Sarah” Discaya and her husband, Pacifico “Curlee” II, are not qualified to become state witnesses in ongoing investigations on the corruption of flood control projects because they are the “most guilty.”
Rep. Terry Ridon (PL, Bicol Saro), the lead chairperson of the House Infrastructure Committee, said this yesterday following reports that Sen. Rodante Marcoleta had asked the Senate leadership to endorse his request to Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla to consider the admission of the Discaya couple under the Witness Protection Program (WPP) of the Department of Justice (DOJ).
Marcoleta made the request last Monday when he was still the chairperson of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, and after the Discayas, in a sworn joint affidavit, named 17 congressmen, eight officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and a former government official as alleged recipients of “advance commissions” that they paid to get government projects.
Marcoleta has been removed as chairperson of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee and replaced by Sen. Panfilo Lacson following the ouster of Sen. Francis Escudero and the election of Sen. Vicente Sotto III as Senate president.
Ridon said: “Hindi sila kuwalipikado base sa ‘least guilty’ na pamantayan. Para sa akin, kasama sila sa most guilty sa corruption sa flood control projects (The are not qualified based on the ‘least guilty’ standard in accepting state witnesses. To me, they are among the most guilty in the corruption of flood control projects).”
He said that instead of accepting the Discayas to the WPP, the DOJ should study the possibility of charging them with plunder or at the very least, graft.
“Gaya ng nabanggit ng isang miyembro namin sa komite, puwede silang kasuhan ng plunder at ang ebidensiya ay ‘yung mismong affidavit nila, kung saan inamin nila na involved sila sa corruption (Like what was mentioned by a member of the committee, they can be charged with plunder and the evidence can be their affidavit where they admitted involvement in corruption),” he said.
REVIEW
Sotto said he forwarded Marcoleta’s request to Lacson for assessment.
“I forwarded the supposed letter to Sen. Lacson. Pag- uusapan muna namin (We will discuss it first). He is now the blue ribbon chair. (He) will assess the proposition,” he said in an interview.
Marcoleta inquired about the status of his request during the Senate plenary session on Wednesday.
In his manifestation, he said that he had encouraged the 15 contractors mentioned by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in a press briefing to spill the beans on the flood control projects, and raised the possibility that they maybe granted provisional immunity pending the assessment of the DOJ if they can qualify in the WPP.
“Yan na nga po ang nangyari, Mr. President, hanggang sa sila ay tumestigo sa komite dala-dala at binasa nila ang kanilang sworn statement. Nag dahil po doon ay smulat kami sa Kalihim ng DOJ at yan nga po ay September 8, 2025 (That’s what happened, Mr. President, they [Discayas] testified before the committee. They read their sworn statement. Because of that, we wrote a letter to the DOJ secretary on September 8, 2025),” he said.
Marcoleta has earlier said that Remulla has promised to evaluate if the couple can qualify under the WPP, and said this would depend on their evaluation if they are the “least guilty” in the kickbacks mess.
Sotto said he will let Lacson study the request.
“But as I read it, sabi ko nga kumpleto na ba? Yun ba ay tell all na o tell half? Tignan muna natin. That’s why there’s a new chair of Blue Ribbon (But as I read it, I asked, is that [Discayas testimony] complete? Did they tell everything or are they just half truths? Let’s first assess it. That’s why there’s a new chair of the Blue Ribbon),” he added.
Marcoleta said the Senate leadership should act on his request the soonest time possible, otherwise the integrity of the upper chamber will be compromised.
Sotto directed Lacson and Marcoleta to discuss the proposal.
‘MOST GUILTY’
Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto, a political rival of the Discayas, has said the embattled contractor couple were obviously “angling” to be admitted as state witnesses to avoid prosecution.
Ridon said during the Tuesday hearing that financial statements submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) showed that the Discayas received a total of P9.35 billion from 2014 to 2023 from government infrastructure projects, including flood control.
Curlee Discaya admitted making a net income of between 10 percent to 15 percent, but denied that he made between P9.35 billion to P14 billion over the course of those years when Ridon confronted him.
“Hindi po ganun kalaki ‘yun, your honor (It was not that big, your honor),” he protested.
Deputy Speaker Garin revealed that the Discayas’ construction firms, St. Timothy Construction, made a killing under the Duterte administration.
She told the panel that from reporting zero revenues in 2014 and 2015 and just P99.25 million in 2016, the companies reported revenues of up to P1.034 billion in 2017 under the Duterte administration.
“Pasok tayo ng 2017 — lumipad, tumalon ‘yung total revenue niyo to P1,034,443,000. Tama po ba? (Then 2017 came, your total revenue leaped to P1,034,443,000. Correct?) And this is an increase of 942 percent from the revenue of the previous year?” Garin asked, to which Curlee replied: “Yes, your honor.”
SEC records also showed that in 2018, the revenues reached P12.05 billion, which further ballooned to P13.55 billion in 2019, right before the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
In 2020, the first year of the pandemic, Garin noted the Discayas’ revenue from the government reached P11.583 billion, P16.07 billion in 2021, P20.52 billion in 2022 and P18.62 billion in 2023.
“Of course, with due courtesy to Mr. Discaya, siguro (perhaps) they took advantage of the situation,” Garin said. “‘Yun bang gutom ka, andyan ‘yung pagkain, napilitang kainin ng buong-buo na hindi mo na iniisip ang ibang tao (It’s like getting hungry and the food is there and you ate the whole of it without thinking about other people),” Garin said.
PASAY CITY JAIL
Meanwhile, Sotto yesterday ordered the transfer of Brice Ericson Hernandez, the former assistant district engineer of Bulacan 1st District Engineering Office, to the Pasay City jail from the PNP Custodial Center in Camp Crame.
Sotto said that while he will be detained at the city jail, Hernandez will still be under the custody of the Senate.
The Senate leader gave the directive after members of the minority bloc questioned his decision to transfer the custody of Hernandez to the PNP.
The minority senators said Hernandez, who was cited in contempt by the Marcoleta-led blue ribbon panel last Monday and ordered detained at the Senate, should have been brought back to the upper chamber after his appearance at the House infracomm hearing.
At the House hearing, Hernandez asked the joint committee to ensure his security following his claim that Senators Jinggoy Estrada and Joel Villanueva supposedly got 30 percent commissions from flood control projects in Bulacan in 2025 and 2023, respectively.
The Ridon panel coordinated with Sotto’s office, thus, Hernandez’ turnover to the PNP.
Yesterday. Sotto the ordered the Senate Office of the Sergeant-at-Arms to bring Hernandez to the Pasay City Jail.
The Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) said it has already made preparations for the transfer of Hernandez to Pasay city Jail.
“We’re waiting for him, the BJMP is ready,” said BJMP spokesman Superintendent Jayrex Bustinera, adding that “The office of the Senate Sergeant at Arms already made coordination (with the BJMP) and we’re ready. We already made preparations.”
As of 7:30 p.m., Bustinera said Hernandez was not yet in the custody of the Pasay city Jail.
Asked when Hernandez will be transferred to the city jail, Bustinera said: “For security reasons we’re not going to say the exact time.”
The Pasay City Jail currently houses 932 inmates, with a congestion rate of 811 percent.
BLUE RIBBON STAFF
Senate secretary Renato Bantug said they have started investigating the claims of Hernandez that a certain “Beng Ramos” collected the commissions allegedly paid to Estrada.
Beng Ramos has been identified as Divina Gracia Ramos, a staff member of the Blue Ribbon Committee’s oversight office management.
Estrada has denied that he has a staff member named Ramos.
The Senate secretariat’s probe was launched on the request of lawyer Raquel Mejia, Estrada’s chief of staff.
“We are therefore requesting your good office in the Office of the Secretary to conduct an investigation on this serious matter. If proven guilty of misrepresenting the senator, we expect that she will be meted with the appropriate penalty,” Mejia said in a letter to Bantug dated Sept. 9.
CLEANSING
Lacson said he will prioritize internal cleansing in the Blue Ribbon Committee following the discovery that Ramos is a staff member of the panel.
“Since I am not sure if there is only one Beng Ramos in the Blue Ribbon Committee which I was just elected by my peers to chair, just like DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon, maybe I also need to do a simultaneous internal cleansing while buckling down to work,” he said.
He said he must make sure that committee staff members are clean since the panel is tasked to look into government misconduct and to check accountability.
