Contractors insist: No ghost projects, illegal wealth

Contractors at the center of multibillion-peso flood control deals yesterday denied allegations of ghost projects, even as senators grilled them on possible anomalies within government agencies.

- NEIL JAYSON SERVALLOS

At yesterday's Senate Blue Ribbon committee hearing presided over by Sen. Rodante Marcoleta, businesswoman Sarah Discaya, president of top contractor Alpha and Omega Construction Corp., admitted to being part owner with her husband Curlee Discaya of eight construction firms - including Amethyst Horizon, and Waymaker OPC.

But she insisted that her companies had completed all awarded projects, and her family's wealth was legally earned.

"Nothing, definitely," Discaya told Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada, when asked if any of her firms had implemented ghost projects.

Pressed further, she promised to submit photographs of all "400-plus" completed projects.

Estrada, however, questioned why Discaya came to the hearing without complete records, noting she had earlier claimed her companies joined 491 biddings for flood control projects in 2022 alone, winning 71 under Alpha and Omega.

"If you come here you have to be prepared. You do not come here unprepared... You are the most prominent contractor. You have to come here prepared," Estrada said.

He also alleged that the Discayas' nine construction companies competed against one another in public biddings for government contracts under the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) - a scheme that one senator described as "bidingbidingan" or sham bidding.

Estrada went on to link Discaya's relatives to the other firms, pointing out that company calling cards presented by Sen. Risa Hontiveros bore the names of her husband, Pacifico "Curlee" Discaya, her son and cousins.

"From the left pocket to the right pocket," Estrada remarked, suggesting the firms were part of a single network cornering DPWH contracts.

During the hearing, Discaya clarified that she and her husband owned only 28 luxury cars and not 40. The other vehicles referred to in a feature about her last year are registered under their companies, she said.