Ombudsman calls out Curlee Discaya, says return of stolen public funds is accountability

Assistant Ombudsman Mico Clavano on Tuesday called out contractor Curlee Discaya for calling the return of public funds as a robbery of the Discayas' assets, saying the return of public funds to where they belong, the Filipino people, is accountability. 

Clavano, the Ombudsman spokesperson, was responding to Discaya's statements during the Senate inquiry on flood control mess on Monday, January 19, that the government's demand to return the money off anomalous flood control projects is akin to robbery.

"Nang mawala ang pera para sa flood control, hindi lang pondo ang nawala, kaligtasan ng mga Pilipino ang nawala. Kaya mali at malaking kalokohan na tawaging 'pagnanakaw' ang pagbabalik ng ninakaw," Clavano said. 

(When the funds for flood control were stolen, it was not just the funds that were lost, even the safety of Filipinos was lost. That is why it is a mistake and a big joke to call restitution a 'robbery'.)

"Ang taumbayan ang unang ninakawan. Ang pagsauli ng pera ng gobyerno ay hindi pangingikil; ito ay pananagutan," Clavano added.

(The people were the first ones robbed. The return of the government's money is not robbery; it is responsibility.)

Curlee's wife Sarah Discaya, also a contractor, is one of those charged with malversation and graft over an alleged P96.5 million ghost flood control project in Davao Occidental. 

On Monday, Curlee told the Senate blue ribbon committee probing anomalous flood control projects that he felt he was being “robbed” when asked to restitute or return money to the government in order to qualify for the Department of Justice's (DOJ) Witness Protection Program (WPP). 

Discaya said this amid a heated exchange between Senator Rodante Marcoleta and Prosecutor General Richard Fadullon on the topic of restitution or the return of ill-gotten wealth by a person applying for the WPP. 

Marcoleta asked Curlee what the DOJ told him before he and his wife Sarah could be entered into the WPP. 

“Your Honor, kung magkano po ang ire-restitute po muna namin… Ako po, hindi ko po masabi kung magkano po kasi para sa akin po, parang kami po ang nanakawan,” Discaya answered. 

(Your Honor, we discussed how much we should restitute first… I couldn’t give an amount because for me, it's like we were the ones who were robbed.) 

Fadullon, however, during the hearing, dismissed as “lies” the claim of Curlee that they were immediately asked by the DOJ to return ill-gotten wealth. 

“Ang pinag-uusapan po dito, bago man lang makapagsabi ng gano'n, kailangan munang makita kung ano ang gusto at kayang sabihin at patunayan ni Mr. Discaya at ni Mrs. Discaya doon sa kanilang salaysay… Pero hindi po sila nakikipag-ugnayan sa department kaya hindi po sila mabigyan ng kaukulang proteksyon at hindi po ma-process ang kanilang application,” Fadullon explained. 

(What we were talking about here is, before they were asked to restitute, we have to see first what Mr. Discaya and Mrs. Discaya were willing to prove in their affidavit. But they were not communicating with the department so they could not be given appropriate protection and their application could not be processed.) —KG, GMA Integrated News