Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto didn't hold back Tuesday, Sept. 9 when he spoke his mind about the controversial Discaya couple during the continuation of the House Infrastructure Committee (infra comm) hearings.

Sotto was invited to the hearing Tuesday to give his input on the flood control projects controversy, where contractors Pacifico "Curlee" Discaya ll and his wife Sarah Discaya were focal personalities.

Of the couple, only Curlee attended the proceedings.

Infra comm overall chairman, Bicol Saro Party-list Rep. Terry Ridon initially asked Sotto for a background on the Discayas regarding their connection to the city.

"What I can say is they have nine construction firms that we have seen now in the news, nine calling card companies of the spouses Discaya...all of these nine companies are based in Pasig, practically all of these companies have tax deficiencies, probably with the BIR (Bureau of Internal Revenue) as well but definitely with the LGUs. Marami po silang violations (They have a lot of violations)," Sotto replied.

"Napag-uusapan po ngayon na P30-31 billion of flood control projects. Katunayan, flood control projects pa lang po ito. Hindi bababa sa P100 billion ang total contracts po nila sa ating pamahalaan," the mayor said.

(We're talking right now about P30-31 billion worth of flood control projects. In fact, these only cover flood control projects. The total number of contracts they cornered from the government was at least P100 billion.)

Sotto went on to comment about Curlee Discaya’s statements during Monday's Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing, which was also about the flood control projects mess.

"I'd like to be more direct--kasinungalingan po talaga. Lantarang kasinungalingan naman po yung mga sinasabi nito (I'd like to be more direct—these are outright lies. What they’re saying are blatant lies)," the Pasig mayor said.

"Di naman po bago sa kanila ang nagsi-sinungaling. Na-obserbahan napo natin ito on the record and in public very many times. Sabi nga, dito sa kaso na ito, ang sinungaling ay asawa ng magnanakaw. Ito po talaga yung nakikita natin," he said.

(Lying isn’t new to them. We’ve seen this on record and in public many times. As they say, in this case, the liar is the spouse of a thief. That’s really what we’re seeing here.)

Sorto zeroed in on Curlee's claim before senators Monday that their profit margin as contractors was only "2 to 3 percent" per contract. The mayor called this a "very glaring lie".

"Eh kahit naman po hindi ka eksperto sa larangan ng construction o engineering, obvious na obvious naman po na kasinungalingan ito (Even if you're not an expert in construction or engineering, it’s obviously a lie)," he said.

"Sabi niya po, minsan daw po lugi pa daw siya. Ambait naman po ng mga ito kung tumatanggap sila ng kontrata sa gobyerno, nagbi-bid sila para malugi. No sane business person would do that," Sotto said, his sarcasm evident.

(They even said that sometimes they lose money. How kind of them, if they’re accepting government contracts and bidding just to lose money. No sane business person would do that.)

"We just apply simple logic, it is already clear that they are lying. Although alam ko medyo iba po kasi yung logic na ginagamit nila sa universe po nila (Although I know that they're employing different logic in their universe)," he continued.

According to Sotto, the Discayas can blame nobody but themselves--and their penchant for flaunting their wealth--for their current predicament.

"Sila naman po yung nagmalaki at nag-flaunt, ipinagmayabang po nila yung lifestyle nila. Na sobrang yaman. Sabi nga po nila sa isang interview, 11 digits--sinabi po nila, ipinagyayabang nila, 11 digits, sabi ni Ma'am Sarah. 11 digits ang assets nila. So hindi bababa sa P10 billion," an incredulous Sotto said.

(They’re the ones who flaunted and boasted about their lifestyle. That they’re extremely wealthy. In one interview, 11 digits--they even bragged 11 digits, Ma’am Sarah said, they have 11-digit assets. That means no less than P10 billion.)

Sotto continued: "Yung mga sasakyan (Their vehicles), if they paid the correct taxes it would easily reach almost a billion, if not more than a billion. How can you afford that if you're only earning 2 to 3 percent profit."

"Buti na lang po, ang isda ay nahuhuli sa sarili nilang bibig. Buti na lang po ganun po sila magsalita in public at nalalaman po natin ang katotohanan (It's a good thing fish are caught by their own mouths. Good thing they speak like that in public, so we get to know the truth)," he further said.