Arrest warrants out vs Sarah Discaya, others over ghost flood control project—Marcos
President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. (Mark Balmores)
President Marcos announced that warrants of arrest against Sarah Discaya and nine others have been issued by the court over the ghost flood control project in Davao Occidental.
"Ipapa-abot ko po sa inyo na ang P96.5 million ng ghost flood project sa Davao Occidental, naglabas na ng warrant of arrest ang korte laban sa sampung pangunahing sangkot dito sa anomalyang ito (I am reporting to you that in connection with the ₱96.5 million ghost flood control project in Davao Occidental, the court has already issued warrants of arrest against 10 principal individuals involved in this anomaly)," Marcos said in a video report on Thursday night, Dec. 18.
Marcos said among them is Sarah Discaya who is currently under the custody of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).
He further said that Discaya and the nine other individuals are facing cases of graft and malversation.
"Ang mga akusado ay nahaharap sa kasong graft at malversation, ito pong mga kasong ito hindi po bailable ito, hindi pwedeng bayaran ang kanyang…para sila’y malalabas sa kulungan (The accused are facing charges of graft and malversation. These charges are non-bailable, meaning they cannot pay bail in order to be released from detention)," the President said.
According to Marcos, eight officials from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) have expressed their intention to surrender.
"Ito po ay patuloy naming gagawin at simula lang po ito at patuloy naming iimbestigahan at kakasuhan lahat po ng may kinalaman sa mga iskandalo na nakikita natin sa mga flood control project (We will continue doing this—this is only the beginning—and we will persist in investigating and filing charges against everyone involved in the scandals we are seeing in flood control projects)," Marcos said.
"Titiyakin po natin na hindi lamang sila ay makakasuhan, kundi maibalik ang pera, na binayad ng ating kababayan ay ibalik sa kaban ng ating bansa (We will ensure that they are not only prosecuted, but that the money paid by our fellow citizens is recovered and returned to the national treasury)," Marcos added.
It can be recalled that in November, the President vowed that those involved in the anomalous flood control projects would not experience a merry Christmas, assuring the public that they would be jailed before Christmas.