Authorities are on standby should the arrest warrants be issued by the court.
In a video message on Friday, President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. shared another development on the ongoing flood control corruption case.
Accoridng to the chief executive, the Office of the Ombudsman will be filing graft and malversation cases against several individuals over a “ghost” flood control project in Davao Occidental, which was supposed to be completed in 2022 but was never even started.
Marcos said the Ombudsman anchored the charges from the complaint filed by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) concerning a flood control project in Davao Occidental, which was valued at nearly Php100 million and was awarded on January 13, 2022 to St. Timothy Construction Corporation.
Those implicated in the complaint are individuals from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), as well as controversial contractor Cezarah ‘Sarah’ Rowena Discaya and Maria Roma Angeline Remando of St. Timothy Construction Corporation.
PBBM said that although the project was reported as completed in 2022, an inspection by the Philippine National Police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) on September 25, 2025 confirmed that no construction had taken place at the site.
Furthermore, there are also discrepancies in the documents and evidence submitted by the respondents, noting that even the videos and photos provided could not be verified as related to the project.
“Natuklasan ng Ombudsman ‘yung mga isinumiting final billing, certificate of completion at inspection reports ay palsipikado o hindi tumutugma sa aktwal na kalagayan ng proyekto. Maging mga video at larawan na hinarap ng respondent ay walang time stamp at hindi ma-validate na tumutukoy sa proyektong ito,” noted President Marcos.
He also noted the DPWH officials that were implicated in the case, as the Ombudsman reported, are those that issued and approved documents used to request and release nearly Php100 million in funds, despite the fact that the project had neither been started nor completed.
“Meron pang mga ibang nasa ahensya ng DPWH na nasama rin sa kasong ito. Dahil ayon sa Ombudsman, ang mga respondent ay naglabas at nag-apruba ng mga dokumentong ginagamit para sa pag-request at pag-release ng buong halaga na halos 100 milion pesos kahit na walang natapos o nasimulang proyekto,” continued the President.
The chief executive also noted that the respondents moved with manifest partiality bad faith, or gross negligence and caused undue injury to the government and unwarranted benefit to the contractor.
Marcos also underscored that the Ombudsman’s recommendation of filing malversation charges through falsification and violation of Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act under Section 3E, is a non-bailable complaint.
“Ang malversation ay non-bailable. 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,” said the President.
He then directed the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) to track the whereabouts of Discaya and the other respondents to ensure their immediate arrest upon issuance of the warrants.
“Umpisa pa lang ito. Marami pa tayong ipapakulong at marami pang magpapasko sa kulungan,” he also vowed in the same taped address.