Sotto: Accountability should not stop with Discaya arrest

The call for accountability over the flood control mess should not stop with the arrest of embattled contractor Sarah Discaya, Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III said.

Discaya was arrested by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on Thursday night, 18 December, over a P96-million ghost project in Davao Occidental. She will be detained at the agency’s custodial facility inside the Bureau of Corrections in Muntinlupa.

However, Sotto said accountability should not end with Discaya alone.

“Lahat ng nagwalangya sa pera ng taumbayan dapat managot lalo na ang mga malalaki (Everyone who has wasted the people’s money should be held accountable. Especially the big fish),” Sotto said in an interview with reporters.

“Based sa investigations may mga involved na legislators, may involved na contractors, may involved na executive department members (Based on investigations, there are legislators, contractors, and executive department members involved),” he added.

Among those implicated in the flood control mess are Senators Jinggoy Estrada, Joel Villanueva, and Chiz Escudero, former Ako Bicol Party-list Rep. Zaldy Co, and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez.

Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Bulacan former First District Engineer Henry Alcantara alleged that P355 million in insertions in 2024 were linked to Estrada, involving seven flood control projects in Hagonoy and Malolos, with an alleged 25 percent kickback.

For Villanueva, Alcantara claimed that in 2022, the senator requested multipurpose buildings amounting to P1.5 billion.

In the same affidavit, Alcantara also admitted that he delivered alleged kickbacks for Co to his house in Pasig and to a parking lot in Taguig. He further claimed that Co’s demanded share from projects rose from 20 percent in 2022 to 25 percent from 2023 to 2025.

Meanwhile, former DPWH Undersecretary Roberto Bernardo implicated Escudero as among those who allegedly received kickbacks from flood control projects.

During the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing on Thursday, 25 September, Bernardo said he delivered 20 percent of approximately P800 million, or about P160 million, to Meynard Ngu, which was allegedly meant for Escudero.

On Thursday, 18 December, the DPWH recommended the filing of cases against 87 individuals allegedly involved in the flood control scandal, including Romualdez and Co.

Co’s former aide, Orly Guteza, earlier revealed in a Senate investigation in September that he delivered suitcases stuffed with cash amounting to approximately P48 million each to the residences of Romualdez and Co.