Discaya-linked firms bag 400 projects from gov't since 2022

Flood control contractor Sarah Discaya said on Monday, 1 September, that her nine construction firms have secured at least 400 projects from the government since 2022.

During the Senate Blue Ribbon hearing on Monday, Discaya admitted to owning nine construction companies and started securing contracts from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) in 2012.

Asked by Senator Jinggoy Estrada if all the bids they join in every year are just for flood control projects, Discaya said some are nationwide road projects.

"We have in Romblon, Cebu, Bohol, Bacolod, and Zamboanga. We do not really choose a place," Discaya said.

Discaya said her family had been in the construction business for 23 years.

Her firms were among 15 contractors that cornered P100 billion or 20 percent of the entire P545-billion budget for flood control projects, as revealed by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. in August.

Discaya is among the owners of St. Timothy Construction Corp. which was responsible for a Bulacan river project that was deemed completed despite around 200 meters of unfinished revetment.

Meanwhile, another Discaya-linked firm, St. Gerrard, was suspended by the DPWH in 2025 and blacklisted in 2020.