Chair Ridon: Discayas not qualified to be state witnesses

THE head of the House Infracom has expressed belief that controversial contractors Curlee and Sarah Discaya may not be qualified to serve as state witnesses.

“Di sila kuwalipikado base sa ‘least guilty’ na pamantayan. Para sa akin, kasama sila sa most guilty sa corruption sa flood control projects,” Bicol Saro Party-list Rep. Terry Ridon said.

He said instead of accepting the Discayas to the government’s Witness Protection Program, the Department of Justice (DOJ) should look into the possibility of charging them with plunder, or at least corruption of public officials.

“Gaya ng nabanggit ng isang miyembro namin sa komite, puwede silang kasuhan ng plunder at ang ebidensiya ay ‘yung mismong affidavit nila, kung saan inamin nila na involved sila sa corruption,” he said.

Ridon shared the assessment of Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto that the Discayas want to be state witnesses against the public officials they claimed to have paid billions in kickbacks from flood control projects to protect themselves from possible criminal charges.

Sotto defeated Sarah Discaya in the city mayoral race in last May’s elections.

Ridon warned that their discredited affidavit during Curlee Discaya’s House committee testimony should be sufficient basis for government to reject any requests for protection as state witnesses.

Possible state protection for the controversial billionaire couple was first raised during the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing on ghost flood control projects.

In the course of Tuesday’s Infracom hearing, Ridon revealed that based on financial statements submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Discayas collected a total of P93.5 billion from government between 2014 and 2023 for various infrastructure projects, mostly on flood control.

“Based on your admission, you were making a net income of 10 percent to 15 percent. That means that you made P9.35 billion to P14 billion over the course of those years,” he told Curlee Discaya.

“Hindi po ganun kalaki ‘yun, your honor,” Discaya protested.

However, Ridon reminded him that he and his wife Sarah had boasted in recent controversial lifestyle television interviews that they were worth “eleven digits.”

“That means it’s in the billions,” Ridon said