The Majority of the around 150 flood control projects in Ilocos Norte were secured by the companies of contractor-couple Pacifico and Sarah Discaya, according to Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) special adviser Rodolfo Azurin Jr.
On Thursday, Azurin and Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Undersecretary Arthur Bisnar inspected four flood control sites in Ilocos Norte, the home province of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.
In an interview with reporters, Azurin said the approximately 150 flood control projects in Ilocos Norte amounted to around P9 billion.
‘Apparently, yung sabi ng mga engineers natin dito is majority dito ay Discaya. So, iba-ibang company [ng mga Discaya],’ he said.
(Apparently, what our engineers here say is that the majority are under the Discayas, different companies of the Discayas.)
According to Azurin, all of the projects they inspected in Nueva Era town were secured by the Discaya couple.
‘Lahat ng project na inikot natin dito ay Discaya,’ the ICI special adviser said.
(All the projects we looked at here are handled by Discaya firms.)
Meanwhile, when asked why the Discayas secured the majority of flood control projects in Ilocos Norte, Bisnar replied, ‘Hindi pa po natin masabi.’ (We can’t say right now.)
‘Kasi ang tanging basis po natin sa ngayon ay yung mga records na nasa database po ng central office at yung mga records ng ating regional and district offices,’ Bisnar explained.
(Because the only basis we have right now is the records in the central office database and the records of our regional and district offices.)
‘Kung bakit sila ang nanalo sa bidding ay hindi po natin masabi sa ngayon,’ he added.
(We can’t say right now why they won the bidding.)
Bisnar said the flood control projects in the province were implemented by various levels of the DPWH, ranging from the district to regional offices.
The ICI and DPWH officials noted that they would continue their investigation into the flood control projects in Ilocos Norte and other parts of the country.
Earlier, DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon said the Discayas were among the first to be held accountable over the flood control scandal, specifically due to irregularities in five projects in Bulacan.