Explosive testimony identifies legislators, officials in Philippine flood-control corruption inquiry

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MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A wealthy business couple Monday identified several Philippine congressmen and public works officials, alleging they forced them to pay huge kickbacks so they could secure lucrative flood-control projects from the government in explosive testimony during a nationally televised Senate investigation.

Construction company owners Pacifico and Sarah Discaya testified under oath in a Senate Blue Ribbon committee inquiry that at least 17 members of the House of Representatives demanded kickbacks from them of about 25% of the total cost of each approved flood-control project to help them win government contracts.

The couple did not provide details — including the amount of the alleged bribes or the government projects involved — and offered no evidence, but said they kept records of the dates and places where the bribes were paid.

The corruption scandal, which is separately being investigated by both chambers of Congress and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ’s administration, has sparked outrage, mostly online, and led to the recent resignation of the public works secretary. Roman Catholic bishops over the weekend called for wide-ranging criminal prosecutions, the return of stolen wealth and asked young Filipinos to use social media to “expose injustice.”

In their testimony, the Discayas identified legislators who allegedly received the huge cash payouts through representatives, and said they were prepared to testify against them but were concerned for their safety.

“We fear for our safety because we don’t have protection yet,” Pacifico Discaya said at one point when pressed to provide more details before agreeing to talk in a future closed-door hearing.

The Discaya couple drew earlier public attention after granting media interviews during which they showed their fleet of dozens of European and American luxury cars and SUVs.

The Philippines has spent an estimated 545 billion Philippine pesos ($9.6 billion) for thousands of flood mitigation projects in the last three years, according to the government.

Most of the 14 other construction companies invited to testify at Monday's Senate inquiry said through representatives that they did not pay bribes to legislators or the Department of Public Works and Highways to win government contracts.

House Speaker Martin Romualdez, who the Discayas said allegedly benefited from largescale bribes purportedly received by his representatives, strongly denied the allegations, calling them “lies and malicious name-dropping meant to smear his integrity and undermine Congress.”

“If anyone invoked my name, they did so without my knowledge and without my consent,” Romualdez said in a statement. “I will not allow falsehoods to tarnish my integrity or the institution I lead.”

After inspecting provincial flood control projects in recent weeks and discovering substandard quality and other anomalies, including a reportedly complete project that turned out to be non-existent, Marcos said last week that he would form an independent commission to investigate the corruption that has hounded such projects and file criminal charges against those responsible.

He described the scale and impunity of the corruption as “horrible.” A website he launched to encourage the public to report anomalies has been swamped by thousands of complaints.

He became teary eyed in a recent interview while describing how the plunder has affected Filipinos, who struggle to make a decent living but were most vulnerable to floodings.

The Philippines is lashed by about 20 typhoons and storms each year. In July, back-to-back typhoons and seasonal monsoon downpours set off massive floods that affected millions of people, displaced more than 300,000 others and left extensive infrastructure and agricultural losses.

At least 26 people died in the weather onslaught, mostly poor villagers, including in floodwaters.