President Marcos has ordered the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) to ensure the immediate arrest of Sara Discaya and several others once the courts issue warrants in connection with a P100-million “ghost” flood control project in Davao Occidental.

In a video report, the President said the Office of the Ombudsman has found sufficient grounds to recommend charges of malversation through falsification and violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act after confirming that the 2022 flood-control project in Kulaman, Jose Abad Santos, “was never started.”

He specifically named Discaya and Maria Roma Angeline Remando as some of the respondents in the case.

“I have directed DILG and the PNP to ensure that they know the whereabouts of Discaya at nung iba pa para paglabas ng arrest warrant ay maaresto na sila kaagad (and the others so that once the arrest warrant is issued, they can be arrested immediately),” he said Friday morning, Dec. 5.

“Mabigat ito dahil hindi nila mababayaran ang kanilang paglaya. Pag naisampa na ang mga kasong ito sa korte, ang susunod na hakbang ng judiciary ay ang paglabas ng arrest warrant para sa mga pinangalanang indibidwal (This is serious because they cannot pay for their release. Once these cases are filed in court, the next step for the judiciary is to issue arrest warrants for the individuals named),” he added.

Marcos said the case represents only the “beginning” of a long series of prosecutions in the widening flood control corruption scandal, vowing that more arrests will follow.

“Umpisa pa lang ito. Marami pa tayong ipapakulong at marami pang magpapasko sa kulungan (This is just the beginning. We will jail many more, and many will spend Christmas behind bars),” he said.

According to the President, the respondents from both the private contractor and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) were accused of approving documents that justified the release of the full project amount despite the absence of any work on the ground.

Based on the Ombudsman’s findings, the project — awarded in January 2022 to Discaya’s firm St. Timothy Construction Corp. for nearly P100 million — had supposed completion reports, certificates, and billing documents that were “falsified” or did not match ground inspections.

“Ang mga respondent ay naglabas at nag-apruba ng mga dokumentong ginagamit para sa pag-request at pag-release ng buong halaga na halos P100 milyon pesos kahit na walang natapos o nasimulang proyekto (The respondents issued and approved documents used to request and release the full amount of nearly P100 million even though no project was started or completed),” Marcos said.

He added that local officials, indigenous community members, and barangay leaders affirmed in a joint affidavit that no construction ever took place.

Even the photos and videos submitted by respondents “could not be validated” as belonging to the Kulaman project, with no time stamps and no verifiable links to the location, according to the Chief Executive.

“Ang mga respondent ay kumilos ng may (The respondents acted with) manifest partiality, bad faith, or gross negligence,” Marcos said, citing the Ombudsman report.

“Nagdulot sila ng undue injury sa gobyerno at nagbigay ng unwarranted benefit sa kontrakto at may pakikialam ang ilang private respondent sa nangyaring sabwatan (They caused undue injury to the government and gave unwarranted benefits to the contractor, with some private respondents participating in the collusion),” he added.

Discaya is one of the central figures identified in the President’s earlier corruption disclosures involving anomalous flood control projects nationwide.