THE members of the two chambers of Congress without a taint of infrastructure corruption should ask the about-to-be-mothballed Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) one pointed question. What happened to the 15 big public works contractors that cornered P100 billion of the over P500-billion flood control projects awarded by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) from 2022 to mid-2025?
There are many compelling reasons to ask that particular question about the 15 flood control project monopolists. The probe into the so-called Floodgate scandal gained real momentum after the exposé that 15 public works contractors cornered roughly 20 percent of all flood control projects from mid-2022 to mid-2025. The 15 companies’ centrality to the flood control corruption saga is backed by evidence.
Based on media accounts and available public records, only three out of the 15 major contractors identified by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. himself have been criminally charged. Formal criminal charges have been filed against the resigned representative Zaldy Co and the couple Sarah and Curlee Discaya. The Discaya couple, called by some members of the press as “ Queen and King of Flood Control” own two of the 15 contraction companies — Alpha Omega General Contractor and St. Timothy Construction Corp. Former congressman Co is linked to Sunwest Inc. which he founded and Hi-Tone Construction and Development which he co-owns with his brother Christopher Co. A tax evasion case has been filed against Wawao Builders.
In addition to the two Discaya-owned companies named in the Top 15, Mayor Vico Sotto of Pasig City said that the Discayas own several other construction companies which Sotto sued for tax evasion and other serious violations of city and national government laws.
What about the owners and incorporators of the other flood control monopolists, namely Legacy Construction Corp., QM Builders, EBC Construction Corp., Topnotch Catalyst Builders, Centerways Construction and Development, Triple 8 Construction Supplies, Royal Crown Monarch Construction and Supplies Corp., M.G. Samidan Construction, L. R. Tiqui Builders and Road Edge Trading and Development Services? While all of these construction companies indeed have cornered multibillion-pesos worth of flood control projects, most have been rated by construction efficiency trackers as poor or below par performers. Bigness equals incompetence. There is a 99.9-percent chance that most of the flood control projects they supposedly won via competitive bidding were won through rigged bids.
Centerways made a questionable P30-million contribution to the political campaign of Sen. Francis Escudero. MG Samidan’s registered capitalization was not even enough to buy the “trio” required in small-time construction: a dump truck, a backhoe and a bulldozer. Some of the companies in the top 15 constructed flood control projects in areas classified by the country’s geo-hazard map as “with zero chance of flooding.”
Will the construction firms outside of the ones owned by the Discayas and Co and Wawao Builders skate through and evade accountability. The ICI, before it ends its brief tenure, should provide definitive answers. What horror stories did it find out about the 15 and what appropriate legal actions have been recommended?
Next question. What happened to the expose that over 60 members of the House of Representatives are themselves contractors? With the audacity of naming their construction companies after themselves and funding projects in their congressional districts which their construction companies will then undertake? We can call these the worst forms of self-dealing. When congressmen are not contractors themselves, these supposed representatives of the people have business ties with public works contractors, which is definitely an incestuous and illegal relationship.
Have there been criminal charges filed against the members of the House who own construction companies, then funded and constructed public works projects in their own congressional districts? Have there been charges filed against these so-called “cong-tractors” who literally baked their cakes and ate them too?
So far, only one member of Congress linked to infra corruption, Rep. Edvic Yap of ACT-CIS party-list, has resigned from the House.
Has there been a blacklist ordered by the DPWH on the construction companies owned by the “cong-tractors?”
What about the congressmen-contractors who, aside from snagging infra projects for their own construction companies, are also engaged in cornering massive amounts of infrastructure funds from the national budget, only to resell these projects to other private contractors for a fee?
At the very least, the ICI should publicly identify the companies owned by the “cong-tractors” so the public may know. Along with data on the total worth of public infrastructure projects they have so far undertaken. At the very least the public can flog them using various media forms if that data is publicly available.
We all know that Curlee and Sarah Discaya had a “struggling” construction business from 2005 to 2015. The big break came in 2016 after former president Rodrigo Duterte came to power. From 2017 to 2019, according to a chart prepared by the senators, the Discayas were already presiding over a construction empire with multiple companies and with contracts in the multibillion-peso level for each company, specifically the two companies named in the Top 15 and another named St. Gerard Construction.
In 2017, the Discayas constructed close to P1 billion worth of infra projects in Davao City in partnership with one CLTG Builders, which is owned by the father of Sen. Bong Go. (CLTG stands for Christopher Lawrence T. Go, the full name of Bong Go.)
The unanswered question is this: Who sponsored their rise? Who made sure they won billions of pesos worth of projects through means fair of foul?
What kind of sickening corruption took place from 2016 to mid-2022?