Recent actions by President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. to demonstrate that he is on top of the flood control scandal have failed to convey sincerity, as only minor players are being charged.

Marcos announced yesterday the arrest warrant for contractor Sarah Discaya is expected to be issued within the week.

“We expect the warrant for the arrest of Sarah Discaya this week, and it will not take long before her arrest,” Marcos said in a video message posted on his social media accounts.

He also noted that eight personnel of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) in Davao Occidental have sent letters expressing their intention to surrender to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI). The personnel are facing charges related to anomalies in flood control projects in Davao, along with Discaya.

House Senior Deputy Minority Leader and Caloocan City Rep. Edgar Erice said the propaganda push of the Palace is not making an impact since only contractors and some DPWH officials are being arrested. The masterminds are not being touched, he added.

“I think this is propaganda from Malacañang because of criticisms that they are trying to cover up something. They need to be in a propaganda management mode,” Erice said.

He cited Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla’s statement that the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) has only two months of existence left.

“I don’t know if this is now policy from Malacañang because the Ombudsman is supposed to be independent. And I doubt the ICI can finish its mandate in two months,” the House leader said.

Skepticism on Ombudsman transfer

Erice was concerned that the investigations would eventually be transferred to the Ombudsman, whose proceedings are confidential and lengthy, unlike the ICI and the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee which update the public on government action in the country’s biggest corruption scandal.

The ICI is not really independent as it is under Malacañang’s control and uses Department of Justice (DoJ) lawyers and NBI agents.

An institutionalized commission would have its own budget, its own staff, and immunity from lawsuits, Erice noted.

“It would have access to all government records, CoA documents, agency files, and even contractors’ ledgers. It would be a powerful body with contempt powers,” Erice indicated.

After former representative Zaldy Co named President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. as a beneficiary of flood control insertions, and after he identified officials like former Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, former Presidential Legislative Liaison Office Undersecretary Adrian Bersamin, former Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman, and former Justice Undersecretary Jojo Cadiz as being involved in budget anomalies, the ICI and the Senate have not summoned them.

“These are the officials who allegedly manipulated the P1.45-trillion insertions and diversions in the national budget from 2023 to 2025,” Erice pointed out.

“We are jailing those who implemented substandard or ghost projects, but not those who provided the funds that enabled them,” he said.

Malacañang created the ICI and can abolish it.

ICI Commissioner Rogelio Singson said the body’s P41-million budget for expenses wasn’t being released. “They were borrowing printers from the private sector,” he noted.

Sarah shows up at NBI

Discaya, meanwhile, surrendered to the NBI on Tuesday. She and her lawyer showed up at NBI headquarters at around 10 a.m.

Mr. Marcos in a video message released early Tuesday morning said a warrant for the arrest of Discaya is expected this week.

“We expect the warrant for the arrest of Sarah Discaya this week, and it will not take long before her arrest,” Marcos had said.

Sarah and her husband Pacifico “Curlee” Discaya are prime suspects in the flood control anomalies after their construction firms were tagged as major players.

The couple’s Alpha and Omega General Contractor and Development Corporation and other companies were some of the 15 firms named by Marcos that secured 20 percent of the country’s flood control projects.

Earlier, the couple expressed their intent to be state witnesses in the probe, but the Office of the Ombudsman said there was no chance of this because of their deep involvement in the anomalies.