‘Liars,’ Pasig mayor says of Discayas in House hearing

By Jose Cielito Reganit, Philippine News Agency

House of Representatives of the Philippines Infracom inquiry on alleged anomalous government projects at Batasang Pambansa in Quezon City on Tuesday (Sept. 9, 2025). (PNA photo by Joan Bondoc)

MANILA – Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto on Tuesday described the controversial Discaya family as “habitual liars.”

“Marami nga po tayong na-obserbahan na (We have observed a lot of things that), you used the term inconsistencies, but I would like to be more direct. Kasinungalingan po talaga at lantarang kasinungalingan po yung sinasabi po nito (It’s really all lies, their statements here are all blatant lies),” Sotto said, referring to the couple Pacifico “Curlee” and Cezarah Rowena “Sarah” Discaya, owners of several construction firms under scrutiny, during the hearing of the Infra-Comm.

Only Curlee showed up in the House hearing. He said Sarah skipped the hearing and stayed at home due to health reasons.

Sotto, who entered politics in 2016 as a councilor before being elected mayor in 2019, recounted how the Discayas had already been known in local political and construction circles when he first assumed office.

He noted that many accounts had circulated about their dealings, though he limited his testimony to matters he had personally observed.

He pointed out that investigations and recent reports have exposed just how deeply entrenched the Discayas’ construction empire had become.

“What I can say is that they have nine construction firms that we have seen now in the news…. of the spouses Discaya, where they have used dummies, where they have become huge contractors and all of these nine companies are based in Pasig,” Sotto told the committee.

He added that virtually, all of the firms had pending tax deficiencies, some with the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and with the local government.

“Mr. Discaya has been recently convicted of two counts of building code violations, so medyo notorious po ito (he’s quite notorious),” Sotto said.

He also directly assailed the couple’s credibility, noting how their sworn statements grossly understated their profits.

He noted that in Monday’s hearing at the Senate, the Discaya couple said through their sworn statement that their profit for every contract is only 2 to 3 percent.

Sotto said their own public pronouncements already revealed the contradictions in their defense.

“Sila naman po yung nagmalaki at nag-flaunt, pinagyabang po nila yung lifestyle po nila. Sabi nga po nila sa isang interview, 11 digits, sabi po nila ipinagyayabang po nila 11 digits. Sabi ni Maam Sarah, 11 digits ang assets nila (They flaunted their lifestyle. In one interview, they bragged that their assets are in the 11 digits),” he said.

“Nakita po natin isang jade lang sa office nila PHP100 million na kaagad yun, yung mga sasakyan (One jade item in their office is worth PHP100 million, plus their cars). If they paid the correct taxes, it would easily reach almost a billion, if not more than a billion. How can you afford that if you are only earning 2 percent to 3 percent profit,” he said.

The Pasig mayor cautioned that while it is true that corruption exists in different levels of government, the Discayas were deliberately trying to create chaos by dragging in as many names as possible without evidence.

“Gusto nila na hindi na natin malalaman yung totoo para eventually mawawala lamang na parang bula. Magkakalituhan na tayo, hindi na natin malalaman kung alin ang totoo sa hindi. Magbabanggit na lang ng kung ano wala naman silang pruweba o ebidensya (They want to muddle the truth so that eventually, it will disappear like a bubble. There will be confusion and we will never know what is true or not. They will just blurt out names without proof or evidence),” he said.

“I think we really have to be careful because in our experience with them, in my experience with them, Mr. Chair, these are people who are really capable of lying without batting an eyelash. We have to be very careful,” he said.

Sarah ran for Pasig City mayor in the 2025 midterm polls but lost to incumbent Sotto.