Discayas Name Congressmen, DPWH Engineers Who "Benefitted" from Flood Control Projects

Contractors Sarah and Pacifico “Curlee” Discaya offered to become state witnesses in a public infrastructure scandal, claiming that members of Congress and government engineers demanded commissions for contracts. This announcement was made during a Senate hearing on Monday, September 8.

The Discayas, who own a number of construction companies, alleged that public officials demanded commissions ranging from 10% to 25% for every contract. They claimed that projects would not be awarded without these payments and that failure to comply would result in project termination due to fabricated issues like "mutual termination" or "right-of-way problems."

The couple named several individuals in their testimony, including Pasig City Lone District Representative Roman Romulo, a political rival of the Discayas. Romulo, in a statement, "strongly denied these malicious and fabricated allegations," asserting he was never involved in the bidding or selection of contractors for DPWH projects.

Curlee Discaya claimed that DPWH officials often "name-dropped" figures like House Speaker Martin Romualdez and Ako-Bicol partylist Representative Zaldy Co as among those who allegedly demanded shares. He also provided a list of other representatives and DPWH officials who allegedly extorted from them, some of whom supposedly collected the kickbacks personally while others sent intermediaries.

The list of House representatives allegedly involved includes:

Roman Romulo

James “Jojo” Ang

Patrick Michael Vargas

Juan Carlos “Arjo” Atayde

Nicanor Briones

Marcelino “Marcy” Teodoro

Florida “Rida” Robes

Eleandro Jesus Madrona

Benjamin “Benjie” Agarao Jr.

Florencio Gabriel “Bem” Noel

Leody “Odie” Tarriela

Reynante Arrogancia

Marvin Rillo

Teodorico “Teodoro” Haresco Jr.

Antonieta Eudela

Dean Asistio

Marivic Co Pillar

The Discayas stated they have been forced to absorb financial losses due to these kickbacks and have responded by bidding for more projects to compensate.

The Senate Blue Ribbon Committee chairman, Senator Rodante Marcoleta, stated he is coordinating with the Department of Justice (DOJ) to discuss the details of the Discayas potentially becoming state witnesses. The court is the ultimate authority on who can be granted state witness status, which typically requires that the individual is not the "most guilty" party.

Maki-balita sa Philippines Today sa Facebook, Twitter, Instagram at YouTube!