MANILA, Philippines – The Ombudsman on Thursday, June 4, filed criminal charges against controversial contractors Sarah and Curlee Discaya over an allegedly anomalous flood control project in Calumpit, Bulacan.

The Discaya couple, as well as several former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) officials, were charged with malversation of public funds through falsification of documents.

The DPWH officials charged include Brice Hernandez and Jaypee Mendoza, former assistant district engineers of DPWH Bulacan 1st District Engineering Office who testified before the Senate blue ribbon committee last year. Former district engineer Henry Alcantara is also among the defendants in the case.

According to the Ombudsman, its investigators found that payments for a P53.9-million flood control project in Calumpit were released despite an unapproved disbursement voucher.

It also found that the government fully paid the Discayas’ St. Timothy Construction Corporation for dredging and embankment without any basis for the computation or documentation that the project was completed.

“These collective actions resulted in an unwarranted benefit to St. Timothy Construction Corporation totaling approximately P53,917,731.92, causing significant financial injury to the government,” the Ombudsman said.

Sarah Discaya is currently behind bars in Cebu over a separate malversation case stemming from an alleged P96-million ghost project in Davao Occidental. Meanwhile, Curlee has been in Senate custody since September 2025 after he was cited in contempt by the Senate blue ribbon committee.

When President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. launched the “Sumbong sa Pangulo” website to report anomalous flood control projects, he noted that St. Timothy Construction ranked third among the 15 contractors that bagged 20% of all flood control projects nationwide. – Rappler.com