Sotto rejects Marcoleta bid to put Discayas in WPP
Senate President Vicente Sotto III has refused to sign Sen. Rodante Marcoleta’s request for contractor couple Pacifico “Curlee” and Cezarah “Sarah” Discaya to be placed under the Witness Protection Program (WPP).
In a Sept. 8 letter addressed to Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla, Marcoleta, who was the Senate blue ribbon committee chair until a leadership change installed Sotto at the chamber’s helm on the same day, pushed for the couple’s admission to the WPP.
The letter noted that the Discayas had “testified extensively and will continue to testify on more relevant information” on alleged anomalies in the government’s flood control projects.
“Considering the necessity of the Spouses Discaya’s testimony and the reported threats to their and their family’s safety and security, the Committee respectfully requests that the Spouses Discaya be granted protection as a witness in legislative investigation, in full compliance with the requisites under the law,” it read.
The letter also acknowledged that the probe was prompted by the privilege speech delivered on Aug. 20 by Sen. Panfilo Lacson, the new chair of the blue ribbon panel.
Marcoleta’s letter to Remulla was first sent to Sotto’s office for the Senate President’s approval. A statement issued by the office on Wednesday night announced that he “refused” to sign it.
It quoted Sotto as saying: “It’s unacceptable for them to get government protection after amassing a great deal of public funds. That’s unfair to our countrymen.”
“To be a state witness, you need to return what you stole, tell the truth. What was said at the Senate (inquiry) was different from what was said at the House,” he added.
The veteran lawmaker then recalled his nephew’s cutting remarks at the House on Tuesday: “As (Pasig City) Mayor Vico Sotto said, they are all liars. What they want is no simple matter.”
Earlier on Wednesday, Sotto told reporters that he had forwarded the letter to Lacson and that “we will talk about it first.”
“As I read it, I asked: Was (the Discayas’) testimony already complete? Was that a tell-all or a ‘tell-half?’” he said.
Ridon rejects it, too
The same sentiment toward the Discayas was voiced out by one of the lawmakers who confronted them at the House of Representatives.
House infrastructure committee chair and Bicol Saro Rep. Terry Ridon said the couple may not qualify as state witnesses since they did not meet the legal requirements.
Speaking to reporters after the committee’s second hearing into anomalous flood control projects on Tuesday night, Ridon noted that the couple were not the “least guilty” in the alleged “kickback” scheme they revealed before the Senate blue ribbon committee on Monday.
In their testimony, the Discayas named several House members and Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) officials who allegedly demanded “not lower than 10 percent to as high as 25 percent” from their government contracts so that the implementation of their program would not be affected.
For Ridon, those alleged payoffs “would not have happened if they were not part of it … This scheme works in three parts: the contractor, the (DPWH) officials who fix the project, and the congressmen.”
“They’re definitely not the least guilty,” he said, referring to one of the requirements under Republic Act No. 6981.
Under the law, the accused can be discharged as state witness if a case is in absolute need of their testimony and if they have no prior convictions of crimes involving moral turpitude.
Wife wants ‘peace’
The topic of the Discayas being possibly named state witnesses was repeatedly brought up during the House hearing, with Pasig Mayor Sotto later warning that the couple were clearly “angling” for it to avoid prosecution.
Curlee attended the House hearing on behalf of the nine Discaya firms that collectively bagged P30 billion in flood control projects from 2022 to 2025.
Curlee then said he was encouraged by his wife Sarah to give his now-controversial statement to the Senate “because she just wants peace” and not because witness protection was already on the table.
But he later admitted that he wished to be considered for witness protection because “we’re scared for our lives … Every day, protesters troop to our houses.”
At one point, Manila Rep. Bienvenido Abante asked him: “You know that you’re facing grave accusations right now, and you could be facing plunder charges along with other officials. And this is the reason why you want to be a state witness. Am I right?”
“Yes, your Honor,” Curlee replied.
