Batangas 2nd district Rep. Gerville “Jinky Bitrics” Luistro called out Pacifico "Curlee" Discaya ll for exhibiting "selective amnesia" during the House Infrastructure Committee's (infra comm) hearing on Tuesday, Sept. 9 on the flood control projects controversy.

This, after the controversial contractor allegedly withheld names of government officials who sought commissions during the previous Duterte administration, despite his earlier implication of House members and Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) officials under the current Marcos administration.

During Tuesday’s hearing, Discaya admitted that officials during the administration of former president Rodrigo Duterte had sought commissions from him, but he refused to identify them.

But in his affidavit and in Monday's Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing, the Pasig City-based businessman readily identified congressmen and DPWH officials under the current administration who were allegedly on the take when it came to anomalous flood control projects.

Luistro, a lawyer, reminded Discaya that testimony under oath--as the case with congressional inquiries--requires full disclosure. She said the wtiness' refusal to mention officials from 2016 to 2022 casts “strong doubt” on the credibility of the affidavit that he submitted to the Senate.

“There is an admission already from the resource person that even during the past administration ay may nanghihingi (there were those who sought money from him)," said the chairperson of the House Committee on Justice.

Luistro pointed out that Discaya and his firms—collectively known as the Discaya Group of Construction Companies—cornered P12 billion worth of contracts during the Duterte years. It ranked number one nationwide among contractors with the biggest awarded projects.

“With that amount of awarded contract to Mr. Discaya, that is P12 billion… I do not understand why a simple publication would make a difference between the previous and the current administration,” she said.

“I wish to ask Mr. Chair, nagkaroon ba ng selective amnesia si Mr. Discaya? Tanda niya yung mga nanghingi sa kanya during the past administration? (Does he remember those who sought money from him during the past administration?)"Luistro asked.

“Pero (But) it seems he totally forgot already about the people who might have asked for the same requirement as well during the past administration when he ranked number one with regard to the biggest awarded contract among the contractors in the entire country,” she noted.

For Luistro, this puts the veracity of Discaya’s sworn statement in question.

“I wish to remind our resource person, hindi pwedeng ang pagsasabi ng katotohanan ay selective lamang (the disclosure of the truth shouldn't be selective). When you take your oath to tell the truth and nothing but the truth, you have to disclose everything,” she said.

“Hindi pwedeng ang i-disclose mo lang, ‘23 up to ‘24, and then 2016 to 2022, nakalimutan mo na (You can't disclose the names from the years '23 up to '24, and then forget those from 2016 to 2022). How can that be possible Mr. Discaya?...It casts doubt, strong doubt on the truthfulness of the contents of your affidavit,” she said to conclude her interpellation.

Also during the infra comm hearing, DPWH Undersecretary for Planning and Information Technology Maria Catalina Cabral acknowledged that her office oversaw the line-item budgets covering massive flood control allocations during 2020 and 2021, years marked by strict lockdowns due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Budget records show that for 2020, the administration of then-president Duterte proposed P4.6 billion in flood control projects, but the final General Appropriations Act (GAA) or enacted national budget raised this to P13.745 billion.

Then in 2021, the Duterte administration proposed P9.67 billion in flood control projects, which ballooned to P25 billion in the GAA.

Deputy Speaker and Iloilo 1st district Rep. Janette Garin, a former Department of Health (DOH) secretary, sought Cabral's comment on whether or not the funds should have been diverted to pandemic response instead of infrastructure.

“if you were the decision maker, Usec. Cathy Cabral, sa tingin niyo ba mas maiging ginastos ito sa pandemya at hindi na tayo nangutang kesa ginastos sa flood control? (do you think this should have been spent on the pandemic, and not the money we loaned, instead of flood control?)" Garin asked.

“You asked for my personal opinion and I would say yes,” Cabral said.

Earlier in the hearing, Manila 3rd district Rep. Joel Chua also asked Cabral to confirm reports that Davao City 1st district Rep. Paolo Duterte’s district received P51 billion in infrastructure projects during the last three years of his father’s presidency.

The undersecretary confirmed the figures, as she cited records from the DPWH Programming Division and the GAA.

Cabral was recently linked to alleged premature insertions in the proposed 2026 national budget.

Newly elected Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson said a caller who identifed herself as “Undersecretary Cabral” phoned a staff member of then-minority leader now Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III shortly after the 2025 mid-term elections and invited them to submit proposed insertions to the P6.793-trillion National Expenditure Program (NEP) for 2026.

Cabral has denied all of this.