Nearly nine months after the Senate ordered him held for defying its flood control inquiry, contractor Pacifico “Curlee” Discaya was turned over to law enforcement on Monday and moved toward Bulacan to answer a malversation charge that carries no option for bail.
The charge traces back to a P53.9-million river-protection project in Calumpit, where investigators with the Office of the Ombudsman concluded that public money was disbursed without an approved voucher backing the payment. That finding formed the basis of the case filed against Discaya and his co-accused.
A warrant followed last week from the Malolos Regional Trial Court, naming the contractor alongside his wife, Cezarah “Sarah” Discaya, a construction firm officer, and former engineers of the Department of Public Works and Highways. Because malversation through falsification of public documents falls outside the reach of bail, anyone listed who had not already been jailed faces custody once served.
Discaya’s stay at the Senate began in September 2025, when the Blue Ribbon Committee cited him for contempt during its examination of questionable public works contracts. His refusal to give consistent testimony prompted the chamber to keep him in its custody, and he remained there until officers arrived to enforce the new warrant.
His wife is being held separately in Cebu, detained at the Lapu-Lapu City Jail over a different malversation matter tied to an alleged P96.5-million project in Davao Occidental that authorities say was never carried out.
The Ombudsman has said the Calumpit transactions delivered an improper gain to the contractor’s firm, St. Timothy Construction Corporation, after the government settled the full amount without proof that the dredging and embankment work had been finished.
