House Infra Comm chair: Discayas not 'qualified' to be state witness

Contractors Pacifico “Curlee” and Sarah Discaya,who confessed to paying off public officials to secure government contracts for their many companies, are not qualified to be state witness, lawyer and House Infrastructure Committee chairperson Terry Ridon said.

“Sa tingin ko, hindi. Hindi sila qualified na maging state witness kasi una sa lahat, hindi naman matutuloy ang mga payoffs kung hindi sila kasali,” Ridon told reporters.

(I don't think they are qualified to be state witness. The payoffs to people won't happen if they are not involved.)

“Tatlong bahagi yan: contractor na kumuha ng cheque, DPWH na talagang nag-aayos ng proyekto at kung meron sangkot ng politiko. Magkakasama sila na principally accused sa kung anumang kaso na isasampa laban sa kanila,” Ridon added.

(There's three parts: the contractor who cashed in the cheque, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) which implements the projects and a public official if there are any. They will be the principally accused in the criminal charge against them.)

Under the law, a state witness must meet the following qualifications:

• there must be an absolute necessity for the testimony
• the testimony must be corroborated
• there is no other source of direct evidence
• applicant has no previous conviction
• the accused seeking to be a state witness must appear as not the most guilty.

Likewise, Ridon said the Discaya’s repeated defense that they were just forced to pay off people to do business won’t fly since they have been contractors for government projects for at least 15 years.

“That is their defense, na pinwersa lang sila, but the question they need to address is, when did this start? They said they were contractors during the Aquino, Duterte and Marcos administration, and Sarah Discaya said it was in 2016 when they started winning flood control project contracts. And yet they say 2022 onwards lang sila nagbibigay [ng commission] tapos sa ibang panahon, hindi nagbibigay?,” Ridon said.

“Clearly, nagsisinungaling po, or selective [ang Discaya affidavit]. Wasak na wasak iyong affidavit nila [na ipinasa] sa Senado,” Ridon added.

Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto earlier warned that Discayas are not after accountability but are just lying to be state witness in prosecution of liable officials over the anomalous flood control projects. — BAP, GMA Integrated News