Discaya-owned building stormed by environmental groups

MANILA, Philippines — Several groups stormed the building of St. Gerrard Construction, a company owned by the Discaya family, in Pasig City on Thursday, September 4.

One of the Discaya’s construction firms was stormed by “People Surge National Alliance of Disaster Survivors and Victims,” a collective of  “survivors and environmental groups."

The groups pelted the company’s logo with mud and vandalized the firm’s gates with words like “magnanakaw” and “ikulong.”

“Every peso pocketed by the Discayas and corrupt politicians translates to another family submerged in floodwaters, another farmer’s livelihood destroyed, another community displaced,” the group said in a statement. 

“The government itself has become a disaster—turning public funds meant for protection and resilience into cash cows for plunder,” it added.

During the protests, the police implemented “maximum tolerance” and did not disperse the crowd, according to Pasig City Chief of Police Colonel Henrix Mangaldan.

In an interview with reporters, Mangaldan said it's the management’s prerogative to decide what legal actions it will bring against the protesters, if ever they file a case. 

“With or without a permit, we will always exercise or implement natin ang maximum tolerance policy dito. Pero sa ganitong sitwasyon, dapat hindi natin papayagan may mga ganyang mangyari, kasi they might be committing malicious mischief,” he said. 

(With or without a permit, we will always exercise or implement our maximum tolerance policy here. But in this situation, we shouldn't allow things like that to happen, because they might be committing malicious mischief.)

Calm urged

He also appealed to future protesters to remain calm and conduct their rallies peacefully.

“Papayagan naman namin kayo, but we should always observe ano yung tama,” Mangaldan said. 

(We will allow you, but we should always observe what is right.)

In a separate statement, Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto also urged the protesters not to resort to violence.

"Hindi naman yung mga corrupt ang masasaktan pag bumigay ang gate, hindi rin sila ang matatamaan ng bato. Nag-aalala ako para sa mga security guard, trabahador, at ralyista mismo," Sotto said. 

(The corrupt won't be the ones hurt if the gate gives way, nor will they be the ones hit by stones. I'm worried about the security guards, workers, and the protesters themselves.)

"Don't feel hopeless... the momentum is on the right side now!!!" he added. 

The St. Gerrard's lawyer, Cornelio Samaniego, said they will file a case against the organizer of the protest. 

The Department of Justice, meanwhile, issued an Immigration Lookout Bulletin Order against Sarah Discaya and his husband, Pacifico Discaya. 

The couple is under probe by Congress due to the alleged anomalies on flood control projects, where St. Gerard Construction bagged P2.28 billion worth of projects. — with reports from the STAR/ Mark Villeza