I TOTALLY AGREE with the sentiment of Pacifico “Curlee” Discaya against government investigators, who despite their cooperation in telling all in the flood control scandal, is still being singled out by the government, as though they were the only ones into the mess.
In a story of the Tribune, Discaya– through a close friend– intimated why he and wife, Sarah, and other officials and engineers of the Department of Public Works and Highways are the only ones being punished– while the big politicos– the legislators that paved the way for huge sums to fall into their hands and those of favored contractors– are still freely roaming around and boasting about their supposed innocence of this largest scandal ever to hit the Philippine budget process.
The Tribune story entitled “Politicians escape; we pay price — Discaya Regrets naming those who got kickbacks”— the contractor (whose family had amassed great wealth through the years and had the nerve to flaunt it in two vlogs of veteran broadcasters) expressed “his deep frustration with the government, claiming that despite exposing the corruption in flood control projects, he and other contractors have been punished, while politicians allegedly involved remain untouched.”
Discaya feels he has sacrificed everything, including his safety and reputation, to expose a system that exploits both the people and the contractors.
“They are making us the big fish. They keep talking about (our) P180 billion in projects, but that was over 20 years. Yet they make it seem as if we just got it all now,” Discaya lamented.
After all the loud pronouncements by no less than President Marcos, Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla and Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon about politicians going to be jailed before Christmas– everything, at this point, is just hot air– nothing more.
They make us believe that our hope of big fish will be hauled and put behind bars to make them accountable and pay for their misdeeds just to keep their images clean and worth believing.
Those senators and congressmen who were responsible for the huge budget insertions for flood control projects in their chosen districts and favored contractors, with their hefty kickbacks, are still marching in senate and congress halls claiming purity of hearts and souls, as if they had any to speak of.
Not even the most publicized fugitive congressman Elizaldy Co could be arrested, even with a red or blue notice with Interpol. Why so? This is to protect him from dragging any bigger names in the crime, which he would certainly spill if they lock him up and charge him.
Not even his number 1 cohort in the lower house, Speaker Martin Romualdez– with his extravagant lifestyle and infamous wealth here and abroad, is even talked about seriously and with sincerity. Yeah, his name gets to be mentioned, every once in a while, but that is just meant to whet the appetites and hopes of us, taxpayers, that his judgment day is coming.
Recalcitrant offenders in the upper chamber are busy hyping their pending bills– to save face before the citizenry that they are doing something worthwhile so their crime of insertions and kickbacks could be erased– only serve to rub insults on our faces each day that they live in utmost freedom and impunity.
Yes, some government offices like the AMLC (anti money laundering council) and the BIR (Bureau of Internal Revenue) have been freezing their assets in the formal banking system and even solid properties – but mind you most of their loot has already been sent abroad in safe money havens– and filing tax fraud cases against them. Yet, these bold actions by the government can easily disappear when vigilance against the plunderers wane.
And what about the architect of the DPWH cheating– Manuel Bonoan and his predecessor, Mark Villar— why are they not being investigated vigorously and Bonoan seems to have just vanished like a bubble. Bonoan was said to have fooled the President in his budget proposal by presenting misleading projects and budgetary figures, according to Senate Blue Ribbon Committee Chair Panfilo Lacson.
As of this time, only small regional officials and engineers of DPWH are behind bars and some contractors.
Discaya is right about why only few of the 15 contractors enumerated in the President’s list unleashed in the SONA are being publicly tried and punished.
He also expressed regret about naming politicians who allegedly received kickbacks.
“Maybe we shouldn’t have named them. Maybe we should have just gone along with the system. But when we exposed these corrupt practices, we ended up being seen as the bad guys,” Discaya said.
According to Tribune’s source, Discaya criticized the Senate inquiries for focusing only on projects from 2022 onward, although sometimes they went back to 2016 to include politicians from previous administrations.
“They acted as if all the issues started recently, but it was really a longstanding system of corruption,” he said.
Discaya revealed the personal toll his whistleblowing has taken, including the imprisonment of his wife, Sarah, over accusations of a “ghost project.”
“If we hadn’t named the politicians, my wife wouldn’t be in jail. The project she’s accused of ghosting actually exists,” he said, adding that their legal team is prepared to prove the project’s existence.
Despite these setbacks, Discaya noted that exposing the system has led to positive changes.
“Now contractors are more cautious. The standard operating procedure (SOP) extortion by politicians has dropped to 10 percent. Contractors are more careful and less brazen. In that sense, our actions helped expose the system,” he said.
PROJECT PHASES
Discaya explained that flood control projects were never truly unfinished but implemented in phases due to funding limitations.
“Every flood control project is ongoing. Phase 1 is done first, then Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4 follow when funds are available. The system is designed this way,” he said.
He also bared the unfair advantages given to contractors willing to give kickbacks.
THE SOP SYSTEM
“Contractors who refuse to pay SOPs are disqualified, even if their work and equipment are sufficient. Those who pay are allowed to proceed, even if they have used equipment,” Discaya said.
DPWH regional directors and district engineers often complied with politicians’ orders out of fear for their careers. “They abandoned us. They didn’t defend us. They let us take the fall,” he said.
Discaya believes that despite the hardships, revealing the system was necessary.
“We may have been blamed, but at least we exposed the SOP extortion and how politicians manipulate projects. Other contractors now see the system for what it really is,” he said.
However, he lamented being singled out while other contractors were not investigated.
“Of the 15 contractors called in, only we were left behind. Why are we the ones being blamed when all contractors were paying SOPs?” he asked. “Other contractors have seen what happened to Sarah and decided to stay silent. Speaking up just makes you a target.”
THE WAY OUT
For these politicians involved in budget insertions and demanding kickbacks, their easy way out was to either resign or request for medical travel, with no intention of returning to the country until after the outrage had died.
A lot of them– Bonoan included– are now abroad supposedly for medical treatment– (Isn’t it satirical that the guilty always resorts to medical props like wheelchairs, walkers and neck braces to support their alleged illnesses or they invoke their (or a family member’s illnesses)– as a reason to fly out.
A more classic and morbid way out though is the death (if true) of DPWH Undersecretary Catalina Cabral, who was supposed to appear before the Independent Commission for Infrastructure a week prior to her death (or was it murder) at the ridge of the mountain leading to Baguio City last December. At least now, the case dies with her as far as her involvement and participation is concerned. The Cabral list is now being muddled by politicians like Rep. Leandro Leviste.
December came and went, and we are now in the middle of the first month of 2026– yet, there is nothing to make us hopeful that the scandal would be resolved with utmost credibility.