Discayas as state witnesses? ‘Absolutely no chance,’ says Ridon

Contractors Sarah and Curlee Discaya cannot be made state witnesses in cases pertaining to allegedly anomalous flood control projects, one of the co-chairs of the House Infrastructure Committee said Wednesday,

"Yun sa mga Discaya, absolutely no chance. They are as guilty as the DPWH engineers who are involved in ghost and substandard projects. They will be as guilty as the politicians that are involved in ghost and substandard projects," Bicol Saro party-list Representative and InfraComm co-chair Terry Ridon told reporters in an ambush interview.

"Kahit magbigay sila ng pangalan ng lahat ng mga senador at kongresista, dahil sila po yung kontratista ng mga proyekto po na ghost at substandard, hindi ko po alam sa anumang uniberso pwede hong maging state witness po itong mga ito," Ridon added.

(Even if they give the names of all the senators and congressmen, because they are the contractors of the ghost and substandard projects, I don't know in what universe they can become state witnesses.)

Ridon was reiterating his stance that the Discayas are not qualified to become state witnesses. 

“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,” he told reporters on Tuesday.

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

At Tuesday's InfraComm hearing, St. Gerrard Construction CEO Pacifico "Curlee" Discaya was asked if he hoped to become a state witness by implicating several members of the House of Representatives and other officials in the flood control projects controversy.

Discaya replied that he wanted to become a state witness because he feared for his life.

But ML Party-list Representative and former Justice secretary Leila de Lima agreed with Ridon.

"Napakalabo niyan. Ako mismo, hindi ako papayag, especially at this point. Kasi nga, okay, unang-una, hindi ko pa nakikita na he's not the most guilty. Kasi isang requirement nga yan, should not be the most guilty. How can he claim that hindi siya most guilty when he's the central figure here, a major player. Tapos, malabo pa yung kanyang mga sinasabi," de Lima said in a separate ambush interview.

(That's very unlikely, I wouldn't agree to it, especially at this point. First of all, I still haven't seen that he's not the most guilty. Because that's a requirement, that they not be the most guilty. How can he claim that he's not the most guilty when he's the central figure here, a major player. Also, his statements are not that clear.)

She added that even if the Discayas named everyone involved, they will still not be automatically made state witnesses.

"Meron siya na mga personalidad na mga tinatakpan," de Lima said.

(There are some people they are covering up for.)

"Tell all kasi dapat. And then, even that, kahit siya mag-tell all ay titingnan pa rin kung meron pang mga most guilty compared sa kanila," she added.

(They should tell all. And even if they do tell all it should still be considered whether there are other people more guilty than they are.)

Also on Wednesday, the Department of Justice said it still needs to study whether the Discayas can become state witnesses, though DOJ spokesperson Mico Clavano said their own statements already appear to position them as co-conspirators, and like De Lima also stressed that the chance of turning state witness only exists for the Discayas if they are not the most guilty.

Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla also said that Discayas must return ill-gotten funds, if any, to the country's coffers before they can even be considered. — BM, GMA Integrated News