THE Office of the Ombudsman has filed criminal charges against several Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) officials, along with contractor Sarah Discaya and several others, over the anomalous P96.5-million “ghost” flood control project in Davao Occidental.
In a video statement, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. said charges of malversation of public funds through falsification and graft were filed against those responsible for the bogus project, which was awarded to St. Timothy Construction, owned by Discaya, in January 2022.
This is the second criminal charge filed amid the government’s ongoing investigation into anomalous flood control projects.
Marcos said the project was declared completed also in 2022, but upon inspection by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) in September 2025, the project was found to be non-existent.
“Kinumpirma ng mga indigenous peoples at barangay officials sa kanilang joint affidavit na walang naganap na implementation ng proyekto doon. Natuklasan ng Ombudsman na ang mga isinumiteng final billing, certificate of completion, at inspection reports ay palsipikado o hindi tugma sa actual na kalagayan ng proyekto,” Marcos said.
(Indigenous peoples and barangay officials confirmed in their joint affidavit that no implementation of the project took place there. The Ombudsman discovered that the submitted final billing, certificate of completion, and inspection reports were falsified or did not match the actual condition of the project.)
“Ayon sa kanilang findings, ang mga respondent na ito ay kumilos nang may manifest partiality, bad faith, o gross negligence. Nagdulot sila ng undue injury sa gobyerno at nagbigay ng unwarranted benefits sa contractor, at may pakikialam ang ilang private respondents sa nangyaring sabwatan,” he added.
(According to their findings, the respondents acted with manifest partiality, bad faith, or gross negligence. They caused undue injury to the government and gave unwarranted benefits to the contractor, and some private respondents participated in the collusion.)
In a press conference, Assistant Ombudsman Mico Clavano said charges were filed before the Digos City Regional Trial Court against Discaya and Maria Roma Angeline Rimando of St. Timothy Construction, DPWH Davao Occidental district engineer Rodrigo Larete, assistant district engineer Michael P. Awa, and several section chiefs, project engineers, and inspectors.
He said the DPWH officials implicated in the anomalous project have been preventively suspended from their posts for six months.
Marcos has ordered the Department of the Interior and Local Government and the Philippine National Police (PNP) to arrest the respondents once arrest warrants are issued against them by the court.
“I have directed the DILG and the PNP to ensure that they know the whereabouts of Discaya at ng iba pa para paglabas ng arrest warrant ay maaresto na sila agad,” he said.
(I have directed the DILG and the PNP to ensure they know the whereabouts of Discaya and the others so that once the arrest warrants are issued, they can be arrested immediately.) (TPM/SunStar Philippines)