ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider Metro Manila devider 'Honest buyers po sila': Discaya lawyer says ownership of luxury cars lawful

'Honest buyers po sila': Discaya lawyer says ownership of luxury cars lawful

Published Sep 2, 2025 03:32 pm
The Bureau of Customs (BOC), led by Commissioner Ariel Nepomuceno, executed a search warrant at the Discaya family’s properties on F. Manalo Street, Pasig City, on September 2, 2025. The operation focused on their collection of high-end vehicles, which has been a subject of scrutiny in connection with alleged irregularities in flood control projects. (Photo by Mark Balmores)
The Bureau of Customs (BOC), led by Commissioner Ariel Nepomuceno, executed a search warrant at the Discaya family’s properties on F. Manalo Street, Pasig City, on September 2, 2025. The operation focused on their collection of high-end vehicles, which has been a subject of scrutiny in connection with alleged irregularities in flood control projects. (Photo by Mark Balmores)
The Discaya family's legal counsel maintained his clients' innocence and transparency in purchasing  multiple luxury vehicles following the Bureau of Customs' (BOC) raid on the family's residence on F. Manalo Street in Pasig City -- which also serves as the headquarters of St. Gerrard Construction, owned by contractors Sarah and Curlee Discaya -- on Tuesday, Sept. 2.
Among the 12 vehicles listed in the search warrant obtained by the authorities, only two luxury cars were found by the team, along with another luxury vehicle that is not listed in the warrant.
In a media interview, Atty. Cornelio Samaniego III said that the missing luxury cars are being used daily, while the others are undergoing preventive maintenance.
"Well initial reaction is nagulat sila kasi hindi nila alam, pero wala naman pong tinatago ang pamilya Discaya. At 'yung pagpunta po ng Bureau of Customs dito eh mandato po nila 'yun. 'Yun po 'yung trabaho nila as long as nasa ligal na proseso eh rerespetuhin po namin (Well, their initial reaction is that they were surprised because they didn't know anything about the inspection. But the Discaya family is not hiding anything. It is also the Bureau of Customs' mandate to come here. That's their job and as long as it's in the legal process, we will respect it)," Samaniego said, adding that the luxury vehicles were bought legally and are not smuggled.
"Binili po nila ito sa mga rehistradong car dealers. Kung puwede pangalanan ko pa ho itong mga ito. Basta legal ho, binili nila, and siyempre honest buyers sila. So sino ba naman mag-aakala na magkakaroon ng isyu sa ganito? Dahil ho ba mayroong mga mamahaling sasakyan 'yung mga kliyente ko? Wala naman hong nagbabawal na batas na bumili ka ng luxury car (They bought all their vehicles from registered car dealers. If I may, I will name them. All I know is that the Discayas are honest buyers and that they purchased these vehicles legally. Who would have thought that there would be an issue with this? Is it because my clients have expensive cars? There is no law that prohibits you from buying a luxury car)," the lawyer explained.
Two failed attempts
According to the BOC, the inspection team initially tried to search the compound twice on Monday, Sept. 1, but they were barred by security guards from entering.
BOC Deputy Commissioner for Intelligence Romeo Rosales halted the operation at around 11 p.m. in observance of maximum tolerance.
On Sept. 2, Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and Philippine National Police-Highway Patrol Group (PNP-HPG) personnel were deployed to secure the compound's premises during the search.
The authorities said the operation went smoothly and no traffic disruption was reported during the search.

Related Tags

Sara discaya curlee discaya luxury cars boc pcg pnp hpg pasig city st gerrard construction metro news
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.