The Supreme Court has ordered the transfer of criminal cases involving contractor Sarah Discaya and several regional Public Works officials from the Digos City Regional Trial Court in Davao del Sur to a regional trial court in Lapu-Lapu City in connection with a P96.5 million alleged “ghost” flood control project in Davao Occidental.
Supreme Court spokesperson Atty. Camille Sue May Ting confirmed the transfer to reporters on Wednesday.
The cases involve two criminal complaints for graft and malversation filed against Discaya and engineers from the Department of Public Works and Highways Davao Occidental District Engineering Office.
The transfer was made pursuant to Supreme Court guidelines directing corruption-related infrastructure cases to designated courts in the nearest judicial region to ensure impartial and expeditious resolution.
Justice department spokesperson Atty. Polo Martinez said the transfer effectively halts the issuance of any warrants by the original Davao courts, as jurisdiction now rests exclusively with the Lapu-Lapu City RTC.
Unlike typical case transfers initiated through a motion from the Office of the Ombudsman, the transfer was ordered by the courts themselves under the Supreme Court’s October 2025 resolution, A.M. No. 25-10-24-SC. The resolution designates special courts to exclusively handle cases involving alleged anomalies in flood control and infrastructure projects.
The Office of the Court Administrator has been tasked with monitoring such cases nationwide to facilitate their prompt transfer to the designated special courts.
According to the Supreme Court, the case stems from an alleged ₱96.5 million revetment project in Jose Abad Santos, Davao Occidental, which investigators said was fully paid but never constructed.