Contractor Curlee Discaya arrested

GOVERNMENT CONTRACTOR Pacifico “Curlee” F. Discaya II was arrested on Monday by the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group in connection with a malversation case tied to an alleged anomalous flood control project in Bulacan.

Mr. Discaya was arrested at the Senate where he had been detained since September 2025 after being cited in contempt during a Senate Blue Ribbon Committee inquiry into the multibillion flood scam.

The arrest warrant, issued by a Bulacan regional trial court, stemmed from a non-bailable malversation case filed by the Office of the Ombudsman over a P53.9-million flood control project in Calumpit, Bulacan, and in relation to alleged falsification of public documents under Article 217 of the Revised Penal Code.

Investigators found that payments for the project were released despite an unapproved disbursement voucher, while dredging and embankment works were fully paid without supporting documents or verified basis of accomplishment.

Mr. Discaya was charged alongside his wife, Cezarah Rowena “Sarah” C. Discaya, who is currently detained at the Lapu-Lapu City Jail Female Dormitory in Cebu over a separate case involving an alleged P96.5-million “ghost” flood control project in Davao Occidental, as well as several Department of Public Works and Highways officials. — Mark Joseph M. Sanchez