Discaya pleads not guilty in Cebu court

Sarah Discaya and her co-accused pleaded not guilty during their arraignment before a Cebu court, a lawyer for one of the accused said.

The not-guilty plea was confirmed by lawyer Cornelio Samniego, who said Discaya entered a plea of not guilty but declined to disclose the names of her lawyers, citing lack of consent.

Samniego said the court set 27 January for the marking of exhibits before the branch clerk of court and 3 February for the pre-trial conference.

He also provided an update on the case of Ma. Roma Rimando of St. Timothy, one of the accused whom he represents as counsel.

Rimando likewise pleaded not guilty, Samniego said, adding that the defense will file a petition for bail within 10 days, along with a motion seeking a joint ocular inspection—also within 10 days—at the expense of St. Timothy and Rimando.

Earlier, the Supreme Court ordered the transfer of two criminal complaints involving Discaya and several Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) engineers from Davao Occidental to the Regional Trial Court of Lapu-Lapu City, as authorities move closer to enforcing arrest warrants in connection with the alleged P96.5-million ghost flood control projects in Mindanao.

The transfer was made in line with existing judicial guidelines requiring corruption-related cases arising from infrastructure projects to be forwarded to the nearest designated anti-graft court within the appropriate judicial region.

The cases stemmed from complaints filed by the Office of the Ombudsman in December 2025, charging Discaya and several DPWH engineers over an allegedly non-existent flood control project in Jose Abad Santos, Davao Occidental. The Ombudsman accused the respondents of graft and malversation for the supposed release of public funds for a project that was never implemented.

The high court has previously designated specific regional trial courts nationwide to act as anti-graft courts to expedite the resolution of corruption cases involving infrastructure projects.