The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) yesterday estimated the companies owned by contractor-couple Curlee and Sarah Discaya could face penalties of up to P300 billion for irregularities in their dealings with the government, particularly in the rigging of bids.

The DPWH has revoked the contractor licenses of nine companies owned by the Discayas following alleged irregularities in 1,214 government flood control projects worth a combined P77.93 billion from 2016 to 2025.

Records of the Land Registration Authority showed the Discayas owned 18 real estate properties valued at P1 billion.

To aid in the recovery, the DPWH sent letters to Sterling Insurance Company, Travellers Insurance Company, and Liberty Insurance Corp. to claim a total of P89.23 million in surety bonds.

Dizon said the license revocations were part of the agency’s crackdown on bid manipulations and ghost projects, which led to several cases referred to the Philippine Competition Commission.

Licenses up for revocation

In a related move, the DPWH signed an agreement with the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) to permanently revoke the professional licenses of government employees proven to be involved in substandard or ghost projects.

“DPWH and the PRC really need to have a deep working relationship, not just to hold those involved in anomalies in substandard and flood control projects accountable, but to prevent these from happening again in the coming years,” Dizon said during the signing with PRC chairperson Charito Zamora.

Dizon also called for the permanent revocation of the licenses of former DPWH district engineer Henry Alcantara and other employees involved in anomalous projects in Bulacan, emphasizing that accountability extended not only to contractors but to professional officials and DPWH employees.

“It’s not just the contractors who must be held accountable, but also the professional officials and employees of the DPWH,” Dizon said.

“It’s not just about accountability, but it’s also about safeguarding the institutions and the projects the DPWH is doing from now moving forward,” he added.

Assets eyed for forfeiture

The DPWH also transmitted to the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) and the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) a list of properties owned by the Discaya couple for possible forfeiture.

The P1 billion worth of properties owned by the Discayas were frozen by the AMLC two days after the DPWH forwarded its letter to the anti-money laundering body, according to Dizon.

Last Tuesday, the AMLC announced that the Court of Appeals had issued a freeze order on 836 bank accounts, 12 e-wallets, 24 insurance policies, 81 motor vehicles, and 12 pieces of real estate potentially linked to persons and companies being investigated for alleged corruption in the “Floodgate” scandal.

The latest order brought the estimated total value of frozen assets to P2.9 billion, which the AMLC described as “the most extensive asset freeze since the probe began.”

“Included here was the mansion that was pelted with mud by our fellow citizens,” he said, referring to the Discayas’ residence in Pasig City.

For his part, DPWH Undersecretary Ricardo Bernabe III said the properties and assets were frozen to prevent their disposal through a sale, and “later, if found liable, the AMLC can go for forfeiture proceedings.”

“Actually, they can file civil forfeiture proceedings if it is found that the proceeds used to buy these assets came from money laundering activities,” Bernabe said.

AMLC Executive Director Matthew David earlier said the body had yet to file “cases for civil forfeiture against these assets, among other assets that we will discover, and also a separate money laundering case involving all those who are involved as identified by Secretary Vince… in the money laundering scheme and corruption cases.”