Quezon City terminates 4 Discaya-linked projects after license revocation

MANILA, Philippines — The Quezon City government has terminated four infrastructure projects awarded to Discaya-linked construction firms after the super contractor’s licenses were revoked. 

In a statement on Tuesday, October 7, the Quezon City government said the Discayas have secured several projects since 2019, ranging from housing developments to canal construction. These include:

• Proposed construction of a six-storey with deck multi-purpose building
• Proposed construction of a reinforced concrete canal at Ermitaño Creek
• Proposed construction of housing 32-Balingasa high-rise housing (Phase 1A) at Brgy. Balingasa
• Proposed construction of housing 32-Balingasa high-rise housing (Phase 2) at Brgy. Balingasa

The Discayas, headed by spouses Curlee and Sarah Discaya, reportedly have stakes in nine construction firms, two of which are top flood control contractors. 

According to Sumbong sa Pangulo data, their companies have secured over P30 billion worth of flood control contracts from 2022 to 2025 alone. 

A legislative probe also revealed that the Discayas’ gross revenue surged during the Duterte administration, reaching around P74.92 billion, based on their financial statements. 

Their income grew elevenfold from P99.25 million in 2016 to P1.034 billion in 2017, and continued to climb the following year, hitting P12.05 billion in 2018.

RELATED: Discaya fails to recall profits, kickback-seeking politicians in Duterte admin

Since the government began investigating irregularities in flood control and infrastructure projects, the Discayas have figured prominently among contractors linked to substandard and ghost projects. 

The president’s own inspections across several provinces found that some of their awarded projects were either incomplete or made out of substandard materials.

All nine licenses held by the Discayas’ firms were revoked by the Philippine Contractors Accreditation Board (PCAB) through Resolution No. 75 issued on September 1, after investigations found repeated violations of regulatory requirements and procurement laws.

The Quezon City Government terminated all four projects on September 19 in compliance with the law, given that a PCAB license is required for all contractors. 

“The Quezon City Government has always observed transparency in all its procurement processes, including adherence to competitive bidding, publication, and posting,” the statement read. 

The local government said it has “nothing to hide” and welcomes inspections or reviews of its procurement processes and projects by competent legal authorities.

“We condemn any and all malicious insinuations that only seek to distract from the actual schemes and perpetrators that have victimized our City and our Country,” it added. 

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has already filed two cases of bid-rigging and bid manipulation against St. Timothy Construction Corp., one of the Discaya’s firms. 

The agency estimated that with 1,214 flood control projects implemented from 2016 to 2024, the Discayas could face penalties amounting to as much as P300 billion. 

It added that all of their projects have been terminated, allowing the government to seize their surety bonds and warranties to ensure proper project completion.

RELATED: DPWH files multiple bid-rigging cases vs Discayas, 4 other contractors

As the Discayas continue to testify before various probes about the alleged kickback scheme — including those conducted by the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee and the Independent Commission for Infrastructure — they have also applied to become state witnesses under the Department of Justice (DOJ), though their application remains under review.

Newly appointed Ombudsman and former Justice Secretary Boying Remulla described the Discayas as an “extraordinary kind of contractor,” calling their operations “beyond imagination.”

RELATED: Discayas' schemes defy norms, 'beyond imagination' in scale – Remulla