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Sarah Discaya ‘under surveillance,’ still in PH, Ombudsman says
Contractor Sarah Discaya, implicated in anomalies concerning flood control projects, is currently under surveillance, according to Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla.
The Office of the Ombudsman has ordered the filing of malversation and graft charges against Discaya, owner of St. Timothy Construction, and Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) officials in Davao Occidental.
These charges are related to an alleged P96.5 million 'ghost project,' specifically a revetment in Barangay Culaman, Jose Abad Santos, Davao Occidental, awarded to St. Timothy Construction Corp.
DPWH Davao Occidental district engineer Rodrigo Larete admitted to paying the P96.5 million to St. Timothy Construction Corp. as early as October 2022, despite construction having only commenced shortly before a site visit.
The anti-graft body suspects DPWH engineers and contractors of conspiring to release project funds without completing the work.
Assistant Ombudsman Mico Clavano confirmed that criminal information was filed before the Digos City Regional Trial Court (RTC) on Friday, with no bail recommended for the malversation case.
Ombudsman Remulla stated that Discaya is still in the Philippines, specifically in Pasig City, and that surveillance began even before these developments.
The Discaya couple's firms have been awarded numerous flood-control projects since 2022 and are alleged to have benefited from ghost projects.
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President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) to track down contractor Sarah Discaya and others involved in a P100-million ghost flood control project in Davao Occidental.
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Contractors Cezarah Discaya and Maria Roma Angeline Rimando of St. Timothy Construction, along with eight officials from the Department of Public Works and Highways-Davao Occidental, will face malversation and graft charges over a P96.5 million flood control project described as a 'ghost project.'
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Contractor Cezarah Discaya surrendered to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on Tuesday, following President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s announcement of an expected arrest warrant against her.
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Nine Department of Public Works and Highways-Mimaropa officials pleaded not guilty to malversation charges before the Sandiganbayan 6th Division concerning an alleged anomalous P289 million flood control project in Oriental Mindoro.
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The Office of the Ombudsman plans to file additional criminal cases this week at the Sandiganbayan concerning the flood control scandal, according to Assistant Ombudsman Mico Clavano.
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