Two out of fifteen (15) contractors who received the lion's share or 20 percent worth P100 billion of the country's flood control budget for the past three years, denied involvement in ghost projects currently being investigated by the government.

Contractors were grilled by senators in the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee's second hearing into the anomalous flood control projects presided over by Senator Rodante Marcoleta. All 15 were present, but two, namely Alpha & Omega Gen. Contractor & Development Corp. owned by Cezarah Rowena Discaya, and MG Samidan Construction who both denied having ghost flood control projects.

Senators Marcoleta, Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada, and Erwin Tulfo quizzed Discaya over ownership not only of Alpha & Omega but of eight other companies which she later stated is co-owned by her.

Senate Minority Leader Vicente “Tito” Sotto III asked when Discaya’s companies began securing flood control projects from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

“What year would you say that you were able to get projects from DPWH for flood control?” Sotto asked.

Discaya admitted to starting with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) in 2012, joining bids in the early years but claiming major projects came “2016 onwards.” She confirmed handling numerous projects nationwide, mostly in the provinces.

Senator Erwin questioned why Discaya was connected to numerous firms with PCAB licenses, suggesting that this allowed her group to dominate bidding.

“Ganun po ba SOP ninyo, magtayo ng ibang kumpanya para makasali kayo? Or kaya kayo nag-apply ng maraming lisensya para may maparentahan kayo (Is that your standard practice, to set up another company so you can participate? Or did you apply for multiple licenses so you could lease them out?)" Tulfo asked.

“Napakadami po ninyong proyekto, daig niyo pa ang gobyerno. Imposible naman na napakarami niyong equipment para sa lahat ng iyan (You have so many projects, it's like you can outdo the government. It’s impossible for you to have that much equipment for all of them)," he added.

Discaya responded that she had divested from other companies and was now only directly involved with Alpha & Omega.

“Sir, yung ibang companies po (the other companies), we’ve divested from those companies, so I am directly lang with Alpha & Omega,” Discaya said.

Discaya claimed she had divested from most firms, saying she was now focused only on Alpha & Omega. However, under oath, she admitted being Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of other companies.

“Opo CFO po pero hindi ako COO (Yes I'm the CFO not the COO),” she said, contradicting her earlier claim of divestment.

Estrada challenged this and asked her: “So you haven’t completely divested all your interest? You’re still the CFO according to you,” Estrada said.

Marcoleta pressed further on the legal aspect of divestment:

“Kanino niyo po idinivest? Kasi po pag nag-divest kayo, may paglilipatan dapat (To whom did you divest? Because if you divested, there should be someone to whom you transferred it),” Marcoleta said.

She later admitted being part-owner of the eight other construction companies.

Meanwhile, MG Samidan owner Marjorie Samidan denied any ghost project in their n P5.02-B worth of contracts with government.

Marcoleta questioned Samidan about her company’s licensing category under the Philippine Contractors Accreditation Board (PCAB) which is General Engineering A.

Marcoleta clarified that as a Category A contractor, Samidan’s firm is only allowed to undertake projects worth up to ₱300 million per contract. She denied getting projects beyond this, nsisting that her firm complies with the limit.

Marcoleta warned that if any single project exceeded the ₱300 million limit, Samidan could face penalties for lying under oath.

“Kapag napatunayan with your category A na nakakuha ka ng more than ₱300,000,000, then you will be charged as lying, baka ma-contempt ka (If it’s proven that with your Category A you secured more than ₱300,000,000, then you will be charged with lying, and you could be held in contempt)," he said.

He further cautioned against splitting contracts to bypass the restriction:

“Pag ginawa mo, binreak up mo… halimbawa ₱500,000,000 ang ginawa mo in cahoots with the DPWH district...in-split mo ang contract, then you were able to circumvent the law (If you did that, you broke it up… for example, if you handled ₱500,000,000 in cahoots with the DPWH district and split the contract, then you were able to circumvent the law)," Marcoleta said.

Samidan denied engaging in such practices. Marcoleta said that records show Samidan’s company handled 58 flood control projects totaling ₱5.022 billion within three years, cautioning her that the committee would review these contracts in detail.

“Siguruhin po ninyo out of the 58, walang ₱300,000,000. Otherwise… In the end, you will be confronted with the reality na nagsinungaling po kayo dito kasi sinasabi namin kanina pa, ang totohanan lang (Make sure that out of the 58, there is none worth ₱300,000,000. Otherwise… In the end, you will be confronted with the reality that you lied here because we have been telling you from the beginning, just the truth),” Marcoleta warned.

On the other hand, Wawao Builders owner Mark Allan Arevalo invoked his right against self-incrimination when asked about the supposed involvement of his construction company in anomalous flood control projects.

It was disclosed in the first hearing by former DPWH Secretary Manuel Bonoan that Wawao Builders had secured projects worth ₱9 billion nationwide, including ₱5.97 billion for 85 projects in Bulacan alone, all under the First Engineering District Office. In these 85 projects, he said that there could be "some" ghost projects.

In relation to ghost projects, Commission on Audit (COA) Acting Asst. Dir., Custer 4 - Defense and Security, National Government Audit Sector, Tracy Sunico said that they will be filing cases against DPWH management officials and possibly contractors.

Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Vicente “Tito” Sotto III questioned the Philippine Contractors Accreditation Board (PCAB) over the renewal of licenses of contractors allegedly involved in problematic projects.

Sotto cited two companies — St. Gerrard Construction, partly owned Discaya, and St. Timothy Construction — both of which have previously faced sanctions.

According to Sotto, St. Gerrard was involved in a World Cup project in 2015 and was suspended by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH). In 2020, the company was blacklisted by the DPWH. However, its PCAB license was renewed and is now valid from July 1, 2023 to January 28, 2026.

Meanwhile, for St. Timothy, also owned by the same parties, Sotto pointed out that the 2023 Bulacan River project worth ₱96.4 million was reported as completed despite the fact that over 200 meters of revetment were not built. Still, its PCAB license was renewed from 2025 to 2027.

PCAB Chairman Pericles P. Dakay explained that blacklisting orders from DPWH have time limits.

“The blacklist that was issued by the DPWH, your honor, has a certain time limitation. So once a notice that the project has been completed, then the blacklist is lifted. And PCAB actually… our limit of responsibility is we only institute disciplinary action upon a complaint for a verified violation,” Dakay said.

Sotto then pressed: “Ibig sabihin pag walang nagcocomplaint, sige lang ng sige? (This means if no one complains, they just continue?)”

Dakay responded that is the limit of their responsibility”

The senator also pointed to Section 4.2 of PCAB’s Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR), which states that involvement in construction malperformance of grave consequence should disqualify a contractor from renewal.

Dakay reiterated that PCAB acts when there is a verified complaint:

“The blacklist, your honor, is issued by DPWH. If the blacklist is lifted by the implementing agency then their licenses can be renewed. However, we also have another mechanism… if there is a verified complaint from the LGUs or the implementing agency, then we hear the case and apply penalties commensurate to the offense.”

He added that PCAB has taken action in other cases, such as those reported by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), including unsafe practices resulting in deaths. Dakay also revealed that PCAB had submitted documents to the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) in July regarding the Discaya construction group for possible discrepancies.

“If and when the bureau finds out that their papers are not compatible with what was submitted to PCAB, then we will suspend or revoke all their licenses automatically because there is now a complaint,” he said.

Sotto, unsatisfied with the current system, expressed intent to amend the law creating PCAB to strengthen its powers and coordination with DPWH.