ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider Curlee Discaya implicated in P96.5-M 'ghost' flood control project in Davao Occidental -- Ombudsman

Curlee Discaya implicated in P96.5-M 'ghost' flood control project in Davao Occidental -- Ombudsman

Published Feb 16, 2026 03:09 pm
Contractor Curlee Discaya has been implicated in the P96.5 million “ghost” flood control project in Davao Occidental where his wife, Sarah, has been charged, detained, and undergoing trial for graft and non-bailable malversation of public funds.
In a press briefing on Monday, Feb. 16, Assistant Ombudsman Mico Clavano said that several affidavits have shown that Curlee has beneficial ownership of the companies that were awarded the contract by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
Clavano said: “When you say beneficial ownership, it is all included. They are the ones who signed on behalf of the corporations even though they are not on paper. They are the ones giving instructions to the people in the company, exercising dominion over the company essentially. So even though they are not on paper, they are the ultimate beneficial owners of the company."
He also said that the revelation about Curlee is a challenge for the Office of the Ombudsman as not all people put their names in the corporation.
"So, we need to first look at the whole story and see if there are really people backing these corporations involved in flood-control projects," he added.
Clavano then expressed his office’s gratitude to the people inside the company who came forward and pointed their fingers at Curlee.
Since this will be the first time that Curlee will see this allegation against him, Clavano said he will be accorded due process and the "affidavits from those who know how the operations are run in St. Timothy" will now undergo preliminary investigation.”
Thus, he said that given the Revised Rules of the Ombudsman, Curlee will be given 10 days to reply to the complaint-affidavit.
"After that, whether he replies or not, the prosecution can already determine whether there is prima facie case with reasonable certainty of conviction," he added.
Aside from Sarah, charged in the Davao Occidental “ghost” project were DPWH District Engineer Rodrigo C. Larete, Michael P. Awa, OIC-Chief Construction Section Joel M. Lumogdang, Project Engineer Harold John E. Villaver, Chief of Quality Assurance Section Rafael C. Faunillan, Chief of Planning and Design Section Josephine C. Valdez, Chief of Maintenance Ranulfo A. Flores, and Chief of Finance Section Czar Ryan S. Ubungen. All eight of them have already surrendered to the NBI.
Clavano earlier said that the supposed construction of a revetment project in Barangay Culaman, Jose Abad Santos in Davao Occidental was never implemented even though the accused DPWH officials certified that the project was completed.
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.