Sarah Discaya arrested over P96-M ghost project in Davao Occidental

MANILA, Philippines – The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) arrested embattled contractor Sarah Discaya on Thursday night, December 18.

NBI spokesperson Palmer Mallari confirmed Discaya’s arrest, adding that the contractor will be detained at the NBI custodial facility inside the Bureau of Corrections in Muntinlupa City.

She will be transferred there on Thursday night, too, Mallari added.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. announced in a video message earlier on Thursday night that a local court had issued a warrant of arrest against Discaya and her fellow accused over a P96-million ghost project in Davao Occidental.

Discaya has been under the NBI’s custody since her surrender there on December 9.

Discaya, Ma. Roma Angeline Rimando of St. Timothy Construction Corporation, and some Department of Public Works and Highways Davao Occidental District Engineering Office officials and personnel are all facing graft and malversation charges over a project that never started in Barangay Culaman in Jose Abad Santos, Davao Occidental.

Malversation is non-bailable, so Discaya and her fellow accused will be under detention in the duration of their trial.

Discaya’s case was the second allegation that reached the courts in so far as the flood control corruption scandal is concerned.

The first case was the graft and malversation cases against former Ako Bicol representative Zaldy Co and others over an allegedly anomalous flood control project in Naujan, Oriental Mindoro. Eight of the 16 accused in this case are already under detention.

Co, meanwhile, remains free as he has been overseas for months now. – Rappler.com