THE Office of the Ombudsman said Thursday, Dec. 11, that the fears expressed by contractor Cesarah Rowena “Sarah” Discaya “are the results of her own wrongdoing.”
Assistant Ombudsman Mico Clavano said Discaya should have considered “the future of millions of Filipinos who were put at risk when funds were diverted for projects that were supposed to protect them from flooding.”
He stressed that “Sarah has the right to due process but fears cannot be used as an excuse to evade responsibility,” adding that “the consequences are here because the choices were hers.”
Discaya, president of St. Timothy Construction Corporation, and several suspended officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways in Davao Occidental have been charged by the Department of Justice with graft and non-bailable malversation in connection with a P96.5-million “ghost” flood control project in 2022.
She went to the National Bureau of Investigation on Dec. 9, saying she did so for her “safekeeping” as she anticipated an arrest order.
“At least, I’m somewhere safe,” she said. Discaya also said her children have been affected by the case.
The charges allege that the accused conspired to release funds for a revetment project in Barangay Culaman that official inspections and witnesses confirmed was never built.
The Supreme Court clarified that the cases will be handled by the Malita Regional Trial Court, which has jurisdiction and is designated as a special anti-graft court.
