The Senate’s deliberations on the Department of Health (DOH) budget have revealed fresh issues linking contractor couple Curlee and Sarah Discaya—already implicated in the flood control corruption scandal—to stalled health infrastructure projects.
Senate finance chair Sherwin Gatchalian cited the 2024 Commission on Audit (COA) report, which found that 123 DOH contracts worth ₱11.5 billion were not completed within the contract period. The delays were attributed to poor planning, approval setbacks, and changes in site locations.
According to DOH records, 319 of 1,099 planned super health centers from 2021 to 2024—amounting to about ₱3 billion—remain unfinished or non-operational. “This is ₱11.5 billion that we cannot use and got stuck because of poor planning, lack of coordination and poor execution. We really need to spend our budget wisely,” Gatchalian said.
Health Secretary Ted Herbosa also disclosed that 400 out of 600 health centers under the enhancement program remain idle because contractors abandoned their projects after partially starting construction. “Nakatayo pero hindi magamit,” Herbosa stressed, adding that 30% of the project cost had already been paid to these firms.
He noted that the DOH has terminated contracts with these “walkaways” and reassigned unfinished facilities to other contractors. Among them is St. Timothy Construction Corporation, owned by the Discayas, which is handling a project in Zamboanga. “Hindi pa po nagagamit dahil nga hindi pa tapos,” Herbosa admitted.
Senator Pia Cayetano also raised concerns about other firms. She flagged Legacy Construction Corporation, which bagged a ₱107.5 million project for the Southern Philippine Medical Center in 2021 but has only reached 15% completion, and Royal Crown Monarch Construction Corporation, which abandoned three barangay health stations worth ₱3.6 million.
The Discayas’ lawyer, Atty. Cornelio Samaniego, said on September 30 that the couple had already given a “tell-all” before the Independent Commission for Infrastructure, which is probing anomalous flood control projects. They were placed under the Department of Justice’s witness protection program along with former DPWH engineers Henry Alcantara, Brice Hernandez, and Jaypee Mendoza, after testifying about alleged budget insertions and kickbacks involving several lawmakers.
