Arrest warrant out vs Sarah Discaya, others over P96-M ghost project in Davao Occidental

MANILA, Philippines – A local court has issued a warrant of arrest against embattled contractor Sarah Discaya and others over a P96-million ghost project in Davao Occidental, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. announced in a video message on Thursday, December 18.

“Naglabas na ng warrant of arrest ang korte laban sa sampung pangunahing sangkot dito sa anomalyang ito…. Simula lang po ito, at patuloy naming iimbestigahan at kakasuhan lahat po nang may kinalaman sa mga eskandalo na nakikita natin sa mga flood control projects,” the President said.

(The court has issued a warrant of arrest against the 10 primary accused in this anomaly. This is just the start, and we will continue probing and suing all those involved in this flood control projects scandal.)

Discaya, Ma. Roma Angeline Rimando of St. Timothy Construction Corporation, and some Department of Public Works and Highways Davao Occidental District Engineering Office officials and personnel are facing graft and malversation charges over a project that never commenced in Barangay Culaman in Jose Abad Santos, Davao Occidental.

Malversation is non-bailable, so Discaya and other accused will be arrested and put under detention.

The Office of the Ombudsman filed the cases with the Digos City Regional Trial Court (RTC) on December 5.

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Discaya has been under the National Bureau of Investigation’s custody since her surrender there on December 9. Her detention facility would depend on the court, but she may be put in a Bureau of Jail Management and Penology facility.

Under Republic Act No. 10660, RTCs have jurisdiction over graft cases that do not indicate the damage to the government, or when the amount of damage is not more than P1 million. Also, graft cases against public officers with salary grades lower than Salary Grade 27 belong to the lower courts, based on Batas Pambansa Bilang 129 or the Judiciary Reorganization Act.

These were the reasons why the cases were filed with the RTC, and not with the anti-graft court.

As per the Supreme Court, the cases were transferred from Digos City to Lapu-Lapu City RTC. This was in accordance with the High Court’s guidelines designating specific RTCs across the country to handle corruption-related cases. – with a report from Bea Cupin/Rappler.com