Sarah Discaya claims viral interview about 'gateway' to fortune through DPWH contracts 'spliced'
Sarah Discaya, one of the top contractors of the government's now-controversial flood control projects, claimed her viral interview with Julius Babao about her family's rags-to-riches story was "spliced," thus making her and husband Curlee Discaya's answers supposedly misleading and out of context.
During the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing on Monday, Sept. 1, Sen. Tito Sotto noted that the Discayas discussed their rags-to-riches story and shared that their family business as a contractor for the Department of Public Works and Highways helped pave the way for their success. (In Sarah and Curlee's viral interview with broadcaster Julius Babao in September 2024, they were asked what served as the couple's "gateway" to have a better life. To which, Sarah answered, "Noong nag-DPWH kami." Curlee added, "Nakapasok kami doon, nag-bid lang, at saka nagkaroon ng opportunity at ginandahan lang namin po ang gawa namin, tuloy-tuloy. Maliit lang [na project] hanggang lumaki nang lumaki nang lumaki.")
"When I said DPWH, because prior to that, we were in local government... they spliced the video that was taken of me and just mentioned the DPWH. Contractor na po kami for 23 years," she claimed.
Sotto clarified whether Sarah meant the interviewers "edited" her answers.
"I think so, Sir," she said, "kasi I did mention that I was doing local government as well as private po."
Contractor for 23 years
Asked how they made billions of pesos, Sarah, without explicitly confirming it, said it's not impossible for them to make a great profit as they've been a government contractor for over two decades.
“We have been in the construction business for 23 years. So I would presume na in the 23 years, pwede naman po siguro kaming kumita," she said.
Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada, meanwhile, asked Sarah what her family's work was before becoming a contractor.
She explained that her father was a contractor for thelocal government, while she worked as a dental receptionist and an orthodontic nurse overseas.
Curlee, meanwhile, worked at a development corporation.
"He and his brother were parang private contractor sa subdivision namin," she added.
She also explained that they became one of DPWH's bidders starting in 2012, and that they won flood control projects starting in 2016.
28 luxury cars, not 40
Sarah also confirmed to Estrada that she bought a Rolls-Royce worth over P23 million as she got fascinated with its umbrella, as seen in her interview with Babao.
Asked how many luxury cars she owns, Sarah, after doing a quick mental computation, said she has 28. This ran counter to earlier reports that she has 40 units. The makes include Cadillac, GMC, Maybach, Land Rover, and Bentley.
Estrada asked why she has such a number, saying, "Araw-araw gusto mo magpalit ng kotse?"
Sarah explained that she has four kids who use the cars "all the time."
She denied buying the cars using taxpayers' money.
Earlier, Sarah said the cars were bought from a "dealer," and when pressed to give more details, Sarah said it's Frebel Enterprise and Autoart.
In 2022, the Bureau of Customs seized undeclared luxury cars from Frebel and auctioned them off, according to the Philippine News Agency. In a 2014 report from GMA News, the BOC also seized undervalued products from companies like Frebel. It had 20-foot container vans with cargo declared as Phthalic Anhydride, but was found to be "lead bromate pigment," a chemical used in making glass types, but is poisonous and may detonate or explode when heated, rubbed, or combined with other chemicals.
According to its Facebook page, Autoart is based in Quezon City, and its intro states that "Autoart Luxury Automobile brings you Quality Luxury Vehicles and Armored or Bulletproof Cars."
'Divested' from contracting firms
Sarah also claimed that they're no longer part of the companies that have projects with the DPWH. She confirmed to senators that they own nine companies, including Alpha and Omega Gen. Contractor & Development Corporation, St. Timothy Construction, and St. Gerrard Construction General Contractor and Development Corporation.
But Sen. Erwin Tulfo questioned why Sarah and Curlee remained chief operating officers in some of their companies.
She corrected him, saying she's the chief finance officer and not COO. Nevertheless, Tulfo reinforced his point on why Sarah was still an official in their company if they had divested indeed.
"Tumutulong lang po ako sa mga ibang companies," she said.
Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada asked if it meant Sarah didn't divest totally, to which she responded, "Opo, pero 'di ako nagmamanage ng mga companies na 'yun. Wala na po ako doon."
It prompted Sen. Rodante Marcoleta, committee chair, to ask whether she understood what "divest" meant, and she responded in the affirmative. She said she turned over control of the company to Curlee's niece.
"Kamag-anak mo pa rin. Kayo-kayo pa rin 'yan," Estrada said.
About 400 contracts
For the last three years, Estrada asked how many projects the Discayas have bagged, but Sarah said she didn't have the exact figures.
Pressed to give ballpark figures, she said it may have been 400.
Estrada asked how many biddings the Discayas participate in, and she answered, "marami." Projects include not only those of flood control, but also buildings and roads nationwide.
Sarah clarified that the bulk of their projects was outside Metro Manila, like Romblon, Cebu, Bohol, Bacolod, and Zamboanga.
"'Di naman po kami namimili ng lugar," she said.
She also denied having ghost projects.
Massive flooding in July
The issue in the government's flood control projects began in July as the rains triggered massive flooding in the metro. At the time, Lacson told dzBB that since 2011, about P1 trillion allocated for flood control projects may have been lost to corruption.
President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., in his fourth State of the Nation Address, called out government officials involved in the would-be corruption in flood control projects.
Marcos ordered the DPWH to "immediately submit" to him the list of flood control projects from every region that were started and completed in the last three years. He said a project monitoring committee will evaluate this list to determine the failures, as well as the unfinished and ghost projects.
Soon after, he launched the "Sumbong sa Pangulo" website, where the public can track and report flood control projects. He also published a list of 15 contractors that exclusively bagged 20% of all flood control projects worth P100 billion in the last three years.
Not long after, the Discayas made the rounds on social media, especially after Pasig Mayor Vico Sotto posted about their interviews with Korina Sanchez and Babao leading up to the 2025 midterm elections. Sarah ran against Sotto but lost by a landslide.
The BOC said it would “immediately look into” the Discayas' imported luxury cars. The Bureau of Internal Revenue said it also began a probe into contractors linked to the DPWH flood control projects.