Manila, Philippines – A widening scandal over alleged corruption in Philippine flood control projects has implicated nearly 20 lawmakers and government officials, with contractors claiming they where routinely pressured to pay kickbacks in exchange for securing billions of pesos in contracts.The allegations, presented in sworn testimony to the Senate on Monday, threaten to expose deeply entrenched corruption within the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and possibly high levels of government.
Cezarah “Sarah” Discaya and Pacifico “Curlee” Discaya, a married couple, testified before the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee that corrupt politicians and DPWH officials routinely demanded illicit payments, sometimes invoking the names of House Speaker Martin Romualdez and his ally Zaldy Co as alleged beneficiaries. The couple’s companies, along with seven others linked to them, secured 345 solo and joint projects worth 25.2 billion Philippine pesos (US$440.6 million), earning them the moniker “king and queen of flood control.”
The discayas’ firms, Alpha & Omega General Contractor & Development Corporation and St. Timothy Construction Corporation, were identified among the top 15 contractors awarded a combined 100 billion pesos in government flood control projects since 2022.According to an affidavit read during the hearing, lawmakers allegedly demanded between 10% and 25% of contract values as ”standard procedure” in public infrastructure bidding.
The couple has offered to become state witnesses, but legal experts caution that their own notable involvement in securing the lucrative contracts-and benefiting from the alleged scheme-could complicate their bid for immunity. The Senate inquiry is ongoing.
