Curlee back in Senate cell after a week in hospital for shoulder surgery

Beleaguered government contractor Curlee Discaya returned to the Senate on Thursday after spending a week in the hospital for shoulder surgery. 

Senate Secretary Llandro Mendoza confirmed that Discaya was brought back to the chamber early Thursday after he was cleared by his doctors to continue recovering in the Senate, where he has been detained since September last year.

Discaya, who is under scrutiny along with his wife, Sarah, for their alleged involvement in the supposed kickback scheme involving lawmakers in the government’s flood control projects, was allowed to leave the Senate last week to undergo surgery on his right shoulder. 

Prior to surgery, he complained of frozen shoulder, as well as anxiety and difficulty in breathing. 

Curlee previously contested his prolonged detention before the Senate, arguing that the chamber committed grave abuse of discretion and asserting that his indefinite detention was unlawful.

However, in February, the court ruled in favor of the Senate, stating that the move “falls squarely” within the grounds that justify the chamber’s exercise of its contempt power, adding that it has authority to detain resource persons who testify falsely or evasively in legislative inquiries.

Recall that Curlee was cited in contempt during a September inquiry of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee into the flood control scam after supposedly giving inconsistent statements regarding the whereabouts of his wife, who was a no-show during the probe.

The couple was among the top private contractors, who allegedly bagged billions in contracts for flood control projects, some of which were purportedly found to be either grossly substandard or “ghost. They vehemently denied the allegations.

Sarah has been detained at the Lapu-Lapu City Jail in Cebu since December, facing separate charges of graft and malversation of public funds in connection with a P96.5-million “non-existent” flood control project in Davao Occidental.