The construction companies of the controversial Discaya couple bagged tens of billions worth of government projects every year since 2016, based on the company's financial statements that were obtained by Iloilo 1st district Rep. Janette Garin.

During the House Infrastructure Committee (infra comm) hearing Tuesday, Sept. 9 om the anomalous flood control projects in the country, Garin wondered who helped Sarah and Curlee Discaya to secure such a large amount of projects.

This, considering that the couple started with almost nothing financially compared to the amount of projects they eventually cornered.

Garin, a House deputy speaker, cast doubt on the Discayas' implication of a select few House members as they appeared to have amassed wealth at the time of the Duterte administration.

Based on their financial statements submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Garin noted that Discaya-linked firms reported zero revenues in 2014 and 2015, and just P99.25 million in 2016.

But by 2017, revenues surged to P1.034 billion, which was a staggering 942 percent increase from the previous year.

Their revenues got even higher in the succeeding years: P12.05 billion in 2018, P13.55 billion in 2019, P16.07 billion in 2021, P20.52 billion in 2022 and P18.62 billion in 2023.

And these were reportedly buoyed by earnings from government projects.

Garin said billions of cash kept coming to the Discayas even during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, when millions of ordinary Filipinos reeled from its economic impact.

“Ito ang panahon na marami ang nawalan ng trabaho, marami ang uncertainties, marami ang namatay, marami ang lumubog sa utang dahil napakamahal ng testing sa Pilipinas (This was the time when many lost their jobs, there were many uncertainties, many died, and many was drowned in debts as Covid-19 testing was so expensive in the Philippines),” she said.

"Ito rin ang panahon na ang ating healthcare workers ay hindi naswelduhan ng tama. Pero ang Discaya group of companies, ang revenue nila from government ay P11.583 billion [in 2020] (This was also the time when our healthcare workers were not paid properly. But the Discaya Group of Companies' revenue from the government was P11.583 billion)," she added.

Garin did not mince her words and said the Discayas "took advantage of a situation".

Infra comm chairman Bicol Saro Party-list Rep. Terry Ridon said the couple must answer for three glaring loopholes in their Senate testimony last Monday: no ledger of political payoffs before 2022, no senator allegedly involved, and claims of minimal profit despite their lavish display of wealth.