Metro Manila, Philippines – The arrest warrant is out against government contractor Sarah Discaya and nine others facing graft and non-bailable malversation charges because of an anomalous flood control project in Davao Occidental, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said in a video message on Thursday, Dec. 18.
“Ang mga akusado ay nahaharap sa kasong graft at malversation, ito pong mga kasong ito hindi po bailable ito, hindi pwedeng bayaran ang kanyang para sila’y malalabas sa kulungan,” he said.
[Translation: The accused are facing charges of graft and malversation. These cases are not bailable, meaning bail cannot be paid for them to be released from jail.]
Discaya is under the custody of the National Bureau of Investigation after her voluntary surrender when the case was filed.
The charges include Ma. Roma Angeline Romando, general manager of Discaya’s St. Timothy Construction Corporation – the contractor of the P96.5 million non-existent project flagged in Davao Occidental.
The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) earlier found out that the “ghost” retaining wall in the Jose Abad Santos town was marked completed in October 2022 and fully paid in early 2023, but remained unfinished.
Meanwhile, Marcos said the other eight accused – all officials of the DPWH have expressed their intent to surrender.
The ombudsman filed the case with the Digos Regional Trial Court (RTC) in Davao del Sur on Dec. 5, as the highest government official involved was under salary grade 25. Under the law, the ombudsman can file cases with the Sandiganbayan anti-graft court for officials with salary grade 27 and above.
However, the Supreme Court said on Dec. 17 that the criminal complaints against Discaya and DPWH engineers were transferred to Lapu-Lapu City RTC “in accordance with the court’s guidelines directing that corruption-related cases arising from infrastructure projects be forwarded to the nearest designated anti-graft court of the nearest judicial region.”
This was the second case filed by the ombudsman in the flood control scandal, after it filed criminal charges with former House appropriations chairman Zaldy Co and 15 others, over a P290-million substandard road dike in Naujan, Oriental Mindoro.
