AS QUICKLY AS a lightning style coup at the Senate took place on Monday, netizens welcomed instantly the leadership, including the chair of the Blue Ribbon Committee that has been handling what they used to call a mock probe (zarzuela) into the corruption-riddled flood control projects of the Department of Public Works and Highways.
In fairness to Sen. Rodante Marcoleta, former committee chair, he was able to obtain from the flood control king and queen Curlee and Sara Discaya, the list of DPWH, legislators and people in the executive branch who have been demanding kickbacks from contractors, through budget insertions or use of unprogrammed funds. Soon after the list was made public, the lightning coup occurred, catching everybody, including their diehard Duterte-loyalists colleagues.
People have posted in social media their hopes that more thorough and credible probes would be expected, esp. since the committee is now chaired by Sen. Panfilo Lacson, an anti-pork legislator.
LOWER HOUSE ALSO
They are now clamoring for a leadership change in the lower chamber so that it can cleanse its ranks of legislators who have been deeply into graft and corruption of all types of projects, beginning with the flood control project mess. They are now expressing the hope that the probes would also unveil those in the executive department and oversight agencies like the Commission on Audit.
Netizens believe that the scandal is not just confined to favored contractors, but goes as deep as the executive branch, specifically palace insiders, citing the long history of such anomalies in previous administrations.
They are also expressing frustrations at the snail pace of issuing an executive order creating a powerful independent probe body, which they hope would yield results like charging those involved, having them jailed and fined heavily (including sequestration of ill-gotten wealth of those that amassed great wealth from the outlawed pork barrel).
Good thing, new DPWH Secretary Vivencio Dizon stopped all the circus-like probes within the DPWH, which netizens say would redound to nothing but cover up.
DPWH, COA ASKS OMBUDSAN TO CHARGE THOSE INVOLVED
The DPWH and COA have turned over fraud audit reports to the Office of the Ombudsman, recommending criminal charges against officials and contractors linked to anomalous flood control projects in Bulacan.
The audit reports flagged “ghost” or substandard projects worth hundreds of millions of pesos, declared complete but were either defective, incomplete, or non existent (not built at all).
Dizon told reporters that DPWH is expediting the filing of cases against contractors and officials of the DPWH, particularly of projects that the President has inspected in Bulacan which were either duplicated (charged multiple times) and “super substandard.”
“I have received more than a hundred projects that are either ‘ghost’ or substandard and these reports are piling up almost every day… We have recommended the filing of criminal cases against contractors.”
CoA sought charges against three contractors and four DPWH officials after auditors flagged multimillion projects, declared “100% complete,” but presented “shoddy workmanship issues” or were non-existent.
CoA said the fraud audit stemmed from Chair Gamaliel A. Cordoba’s directive last August to immediately scrutinize DPWH flood control projects in Bulacan covering July 2022 to May 2025.
“The findings shall form part of the evidentiary record and may be used as basis for administrative and/or criminal liability,” CoA said in a statement.
DISCAYAS AS STATE WITNESSES?
Notorious flood control project Discaya couple, said they are volunteering to be state witnesses after tagging several congressmen, their staff, and DPWH officials.
“We are ready to testify without coercion and volunteer as state witnesses and tell all the corruption that is happening in the House, DPWH, and other government employees to do what is right,” said Pacifico “Curlee” Discaya, owner of the St. Gerrard Construction General Contractor and Development Corp.
The Senate investigation stemmed from President Marcos’ disclosure in August of 6,000 anomalous flood control projects since 2022. He also launched the app sumbongsapangulo, where people are enjoined to report documented and validated cases of corruption in flood control projects in their areas.
The Discaya’s company St. Gerrard Construction, among others, figured in the President’s list of top 15 contractors that cornered the government flood control contracts.
Since 2022, about P544 billion in public funds have been allocated for flood control nationwide, with about P100 billion cornered by contractors.
MORE CONTRACTORS TO BE BLACKLISTED
The budget department said it will declare more flood-control contractors blacklisted, said DBM Secretary Amenah F. Pangandaman as she explained its Procurement Service (PS) is awaiting a DPWH order barring the contractors from future projects before removing them from the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS).
Already removed are SYMS Construction Trading and Wawao Builders, both barred by the DPWH last week after their alleged involvement in “ghost” infrastructure projects, which turned out to be non-existent despite being classified as completed.
“We are ready to cancel the PhilGEPS membership of these companies to prevent them from participating in government procurement activities.”
Last week, the DBM-PS revoked the PhilGEPS “platinum” membership of nine companies linked to Cezarah Rowena Discaya, a defeated mayoralty candidate for Pasig.
President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. ordered the blacklisting of contractors proven to be behind “ghost” flood control projects.
Flood-control contractors have been in the spotlight since the July floods after their projects failed or were found to be substandard, unfinished, or non-existent.
PhilGEPS is the official platform for all government procurement.
MORE GROUPS CALL FOR ACCOUNTABILITY
Retired police and military generals have joined the call for accountability for the anomalous flood control projects amid ongoing inquiries in the House and the Senate.
In a joint statement signed by different groups and individuals, the proponents expressed outrage at government officials and politicians who act as contractors, private sector parties, including their family members and relatives, who flaunt their lavish lifestyles while many Filipinos suffer the consequences of flooding events resulting in loss of lives and damage to millions of pesos worth of private properties.
“We demand that this corrupt system be replaced with a system of transparency, accountability, and people’s participation that makes it harder to be bad and easier to be good,” it added.
Signatories include: retired Gen. Renato S. de Villa, former AFP Chief of Staff; Maj. Rene C. Valencia, former Social Security System president; Adm. Danilo Abinoja of the Coast Guard, Col. Plaridel M Abaya of the Constabulary; Lt. Gen. Edilberto P Adan, former head of the Visiting Forces Agreement Commission; Col. Guillermo G Cunanan of the Air Force.
Lt. Col. Alejandro T Flores of the National Police; Gen. Victor Ibrado, former AFP chief of staff; Vice Adm. Emilio C Marayag of the Navy; Brig. Gen. Manuel Mariano of the Army, Vice Adm Mateo Mayuga of the Navy, Brig. Gen. Eliseo Rio Jr of the Army;
Maj. Gen. Melchor Rosales of the Air Force and baron of Philippine Military Academy Class of 1968; Col. Mariano Santiago former director of the then Bureau of Land Transportation; Gen. Recaredo A Sarmiento II, former National Police chief; Lt. Gen. Raul S Urgello former Army commander;Gen. Alexander B Yano, former AFP COS; Brig. Gen. Rodrigo Diapana; and Rear Adm. Rommel Jason L Galang of the Navy.
Religious leaders that signed were: Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David, Bishop of Kalookan; Archbishop Socrates B Villegas of the Archdiocese of Lingayen-Dagupan; Bro. Armin A. Luistro FSC, the first Filipino and Asian picked by Pope Leo XIV last June to be member of the Vatican curia to promote, support and oversee the implementation of evangelical counsels; Br. Bernard S. Oca FSC; and Fr Roberto C. Yap SJ.; former DPWH Secretary Rogelio Singson, former Senate President Franklin M. Drilon, and former Finance Secretary Ramon del Rosario Jr. and Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong.
Groups that joined the call include De La Salle Brothers Philippines, De La Salle Philippines, Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP), Makati Business Club (MBC), MUP (Military & Uniformed Personnel) 4 United PH; Ateneo de Manila University, Ateneo de Naga University, Ateneo de Davao University, Ateneo de Zamboanga University, Xavier University-Ateneo de Cagayan, Xavier School San Juan, Xavier School Nuvali, Loyola College Culion, and the PHINMA Education Group.
PASTORAL LETTER
Catholic bishops demand the return of public funds lost to corruption in flood-control projects, warning that Filipinos will remain exposed to disasters so long as billions of pesos meant for protection end up in private pockets.
A pastoral letter read in churches issued by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said “justice cannot stop at punishment.”
“True justice demands more than punishment. It also calls for restitution: that stolen wealth be returned to the public coffers from which it was taken,” the bishops said.
The bishops cast doubt on the credibility of these hearings, noting that the same lawmakers leading them had a hand in inserting “pork” projects into the national budget.
The CBCP said as much as 60 percent of project funds are swallowed by a “multi-layered system of commissions,” leaving only scraps for actual construction, leading to a string of substandard projects that repeatedly collapse and require repair.
They called for the creation of an independent committee to investigate corruption in flood-control programs and other budget insertions, stressing that accountability must reach legislators, engineers, auditors, contractors, and financiers who enable the racket.
“[Accountability] must apply to both public officials and private contractors. Blacklisting is not enough; collusion in corruption is a crime and must be punished,” the statement said.
They also urged Filipinos to reject patronage politics and push for transparency from leaders, while calling on the youth to use their digital platforms for vigilance.
“If floodwaters rise because public funds are stolen, the greater flood is corruption itself, drowning our nation’s future,” the bishops warned.
TRANSPARENCY IN PUBLIC CONTRACTS PUSHED
The Conference of Major Superiors in the Philippines (CMSP),in a statement called for transparency in public contracts, particularly in mining, taxation, and infrastructure, saying independent investigations must be carried out to stop the misuse of public funds.
It also warned against “dole-out politics” that traps the poor in a cycle of dependence, urging instead for reforms that dismantle patronage.
The CMSP pressed for stronger civic engagement—through local Freedom of Information ordinances, open legislative processes, and citizen oversight—as safeguards against systemic abuse.
“True reform begins not with changing the rules of the game but with the conversion of hearts and the integrity of leaders,” the group stressed.