House InfraComm's Sept. 9 hearing to focus on Discaya-linked firms —Ridon

The continuation of the three-panel House Infrastructure Committee's (InfraComm) inquiry into the alleged anomalous flood control projects scheduled on September 9 will focus on the nitty-gritty of Sarah Discaya’s companies which bagged billions of pesos worth of government contracts, panel co-chairperson and Bicol Saro Party-list Representative Terry Ridon said.

“Sa darating pong pagdinig, I think the focus will be on the Discaya-linked firms — the projects that they undertoook, ‘yun pong mga corporate structure po nila, ‘yung ways kung paano sila sumali sa mga biddings,” Ridon said at the Saturday News Forum in Quezon City.

(In the coming hearing, I think the focus will be on the Discaya-linked firms — the projects that they undertoook, their corporate structure, the ways how they joined biddings.)

The InfraComm has earlier issued subpoenas to Discaya and other contractors for them to appear during the September 9 inquiry. 

The Philippine Contractors Accreditation Board (PCAB) earlier revoked the contractor's licenses of nine construction companies owned and controlled by Discaya after she admitted before a Senate inquiry that her companies were able to bid for government contracts simultaneously. Discaya is set to appeal PCAB's decision, her lawyer said Thursday.

The subpoena, dated September 4, also covers Mark Arevalo of Wawao Builders Corp., Miguel Juntura of St. Timothy Construction Corp., Romeo Miranda of Royal Crown Monarch Construction, and Sally Santos of Syms Construction Trading.

Ridon said the contractors’ failure to comply with the subpoena could be used to cite them in contempt.

“At siyempre, 'pag cinite in contempt, puwede po silang ipaaresto (Of course, if cited in contempt, they can be arrested) and brought to the committee, to speak before the committee,” he said.

The lawmaker added that the three-panel hearing could also tackle the insertion of a P96-million flood control in Plaridel, Bulacan, which was contracted to Wawao Builders but later found to be a “ghost project.”

Ridon said the project was inserted by either a member of the House of Representatives or a senator during the bicameral conference committee for the 2024 national budget.

With this, the lawmaker said members of the bicam for the 2024 General Appropriations Act could be invited to the InfraComm’s hearing “in the next two or three weeks.”

“We would have to ask the members of bicameral conference committee of 2024: Alam po ba ninyo kung sino po ang nalagay, nagpropose nitong line item na ito for flood control sa Plaridel, Bulacan (Would you know who added or proposed this line item for flood control in Plaridel, Bulacan)?” —KG, GMA Integrated News