After beleaguered contractors Pacifico “Curlee” Discaya and his wife, Cezarah Rowena “Sarah” Discaya, testified on the alleged involvement of lawmakers and Public Works officials in anomalous flood control projects, the couple asked to turn state witnesses in exchange for revealing everything they know about the corruption in government infrastructure projects.
The Discayas had admitted in congressional hearings that their nine construction firms, whose licenses were revoked by the Philippine Contractors Accreditation Board, had bribed government officials to win billions of pesos in flood control projects in rigged biddings.
The couple insisted they were only victims of coercion by these corrupt officials, who demanded as much as 30% of the cost of their projects, to justify their request to be admitted as state informants.
Sen. Rodante Marcoleta, former chairman of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, supported the Discayas, citing alleged threats to their security.
But Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla balked, saying certain requirements need to be ticked off before the contractors can be placed under the Witness Protection Program.
Can the wealthy couple, tagged among the country’s top 15 contractors that bagged over P100 billion worth of flood control projects in the last three years, qualify as state witnesses?
Here are things you need to know:
1. What is a state witness?
Any person involved in or has knowledge considered essential for the prosecution of a serious crime may apply with the Department of Justice as a witness for the state, subject to certain conditions under Section 10 of Republic Act 6981 or the Witness Protection, Security and Benefit Act.
The applicant must be charged in court which, in turn, decides if one or more of the accused can be discharged from the crime to become state witnesses.
Once admitted as a state witness, he will be removed from the criminal complaint which is tantamount to an acquittal from criminal liability, unless he refuses or fails to testify later on, according to Section 12 of RA 9681.
“Pag ginawa kang state witness ng Department of Justice, you are in effect going to be free from criminal liability. Or, essentially free of criminal liability in the sense na hindi ka kakasuhan. But that doesn’t mean that wala kang ginawa,” explained litigation lawyer Teodoro Fernandez.
If the witness refuses or fails to testify against the other accused, or testifies falsely after having been discharged, the court can revoke the discharge order and reinstate the criminal charge, with the possibility of also being charged with perjury or false testimony.
2. What does it entail to become a state witness?
Applicants for state witness must meet the following conditions to be accepted:
- The crime for which their testimony will be used is a grave felony
- They must not appear to be the most guilty
- Their testimony is considered an absolute necessity in the case
- Except for their testimony, direct evidence is lacking for the proper prosecution of the committed offense
- Their testimony can be substantially corroborated in its material points
- They have never been convicted of any crime involving moral turpitude.
Since the testimony of the Discaya couple involves public officials, the Ombudsman must investigate the complaints, including graft and corruption and malversation, filed by the DPWH against these officials. If warranted, appropriate cases must then be filed with the Sandiganbayan, the anti-graft court.
3. Can the Discayas qualify as state witnesses?
Because the Discayas appear to be the most guilty in the flood control scandal, they may not qualify to be state witnesses, according to DOJ spokesperson Mico Clavano.
“Ang lumalabas sa statements nila [Discaya couple] ay mga kakutsaba na nila from the very start ‘yung mga contractors, pati ‘yung ibang politicians (Their statements show that from the start, they were conspiring with contractors and other politicians),” he said in a Sept. 10 media interview.
“And in a conspiracy – the guilt of one is the guilt of all,” Clavano added.
Florescerfida Mendoza, a legal researcher from Regional Trial Court Branch 70 in Binangonan, Rizal, said the Discayas will still “appear to be the most guilty” even if they continue to point fingers at government officials due to the gravity of their involvement in the alleged crimes.
Legal expert Fernandez said the couple’s application could be denied as the Sandiganbayan did in 2018 with pork barrel scam operator Janet Lim-Napoles. He noted that the Discayas may even be charged with plunder, a grave felony that could put them away for life.
RA 7080 defines plunder as an acquisition of ill-gotten wealth amounting to at least P50 million, through a combination or series of overt or criminal acts.
“Pag nagnakaw ka ng P50 million in total, magiging reclusion perpetua to death na, but with the Discayas, we’re talking about billions of pesos,” Fernandez said, explaining that the contractors’ case could result in multiple counts of plunder.
(If you steal P50 million in total, [the penalty] will be reclusion perpetua to death.)
Under the Revised Penal Code, reclusion perpetua carries a prison term of 20 to 40 years, plus absolute permanent disqualification from public office. In the absence of a death penalty, local courts sentence convicts to life imprisonment.
Fernandez said the contractors’ accountants could probably qualify as state witnesses, since they handle the ledgers for the Discaya couple’s businesses.
“Kung meron pang ibang pwedeng magkwento… hindi lang ‘yung mga Discaya, hindi ‘yan papayagan maging state witness (If there are people who could testify…other than the Discayas they would likely not be admitted as state witnesses),” he said.
The Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism reported that the Discayas’ Alpha & Omega General Contractor & Development Corp. placed second on the list of the top 15 government contractors that received 20% of the P545-billion budget for flood control projects from July 2022 to May 2025.
All nine companies linked to the couple were awarded 421 flood control projects with a total cost of P31 billion in the last three years.
One of those projects is a P96.49-million river protection structure in Calumpit, Bulacan by the Discaya-owned St. Timothy Construction Corp. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. inspected it last Aug. 15 and described it as a cheaply-made “ghost project.” It was listed as finished in February 2023 and had been paid in full. But the president found that about 200 meters of the structure were unfinished, and in the completed portions, substandard materials such as thin cement and underspecified metal were used.
Marcos has warned that those involved in the anomalous infrastructure projects would face charges of economic sabotage.
Editor’s note: This fact sheet was produced by Micah Pascua, a student from the University of Santo Tomas, as part of her internship.
