Hontiveros chides Curlee Discaya for remarks on 'restitution'

Senate Deputy Majority Leader Risa Hontiveros on Wednesday called out contractor Pacifico “Curlee” Discaya II for saying he and his wife felt “robbed” when asked to restitute, or return, money to the government as a condition for admission to the Department of Justice’s Witness Protection Program (WPP).

Hontiveros said the Discaya couple should stop portraying themselves as victims, noting that they are among those implicated in the controversy over allegedly securing billions of pesos in contracts for substandard and ghost flood control projects.

“Talagang ilan sa amin halos mahulog sa silya. I mean, hello, sasabihin niya na ninakawan sila? Parang hinold up tayo tapos kailangan pa nating mag-sorry sa holdaper,” she said during a Kapihan sa Senado forum.

(Some of us almost fell off our chairs. I mean, hello—he’s saying they were robbed? It’s like we were held up and still have to apologize to the robber.)

Hontiveros advised Discaya stop being evasive with the questions or deviating the issue.

"Kung talagang gusto nilang makipagtulungan sa gobyerno, simula sa Blue Ribbon Committee, at kung talagang gusto nilang matanggap sa Witness Protection Program, dito pa lang sa Senado ay simulan na nilang sagutin nang tapat at kumpleto ang lahat ng aming mga tanong,” she added.

(The Discayas should stop avoiding questions or outright deflecting from the direction of the hearing. If they truly want to cooperate with the government and be accepted into the Witness Protection Program, they should start by answering all our questions honestly and completely in the Senate.)

GMA News Online reached out to the Discaya camp but their spokesperson, lawyer Cornelio Samaniego declined to comment.

Curlee and Sarah Discaya were previously considered “protected witnesses” under the WPP, but both later stopped cooperating with the Department of Justice (DOJ).

During Monday’s hearing of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, Senator Rodante Marcoleta asked Curlee what the DOJ told him before he and his wife could be admitted into the WPP.

In response, Curlee said his discussions with the DOJ stopped at the issue of how much the couple should return.

“Ako po, hindi ko po masabi kung magkano po kasi para sa akin po, parang kami po ang nanakawan,” Discaya said.

(I couldn’t give an amount because, for me, it felt like we were the ones who were robbed.)

"Parang modern-day na pagnanakaw, ibig sabihin, 'nagnakaw ba? Sya pa magbibigay ng pera sa ninakawan nya, parang ganun po," he added.

(It's like a modern-day robbery—meaning, 'did he steal? And now he’s the one being asked to give money to the person he supposedly robbed. It’s like that.)

According to Hontiveros, the Discayas should instead show their willingness to cooperate by complying with the Senate’s order to submit records of their flood control projects from 2016 to 2022.

The senator added that she remains satisfied with how the Senate hearings on flood control projects have proceeded so far.

This contrasts with the view of other minority senators, who said in a so-called “minority report” that the Blue Ribbon Committee appears to have reached a dead end in its probe into the alleged flood control scam.

Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III, however, dismissed the minority report, saying it is merely a “piece of paper” unless taken up during a plenary session.—MCG, GMA Integrated News