Bong Go denies being protected by Discayas
MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Bong Go yesterday denied he was being protected by Curlee and Sarah Discaya, the contractor couple at the center of the investigation on anomalies in flood control projects.
Go was reacting to media interviews of Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla where he said that the Discayas were “protecting” the senator because of their shared business interests in infrastructure projects.
The Discayas announced yesterday that they would no longer cooperate in the investigation on the flood control controversy by the
Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI). They made the decision when it became apparent they won’t qualify as state witnesses.
“Please do not make me a scapegoat after the Discayas backed out of cooperating supposedly because they were protecting someone,” Go said at a press conference yesterday, calling Remulla’s allegation “unfair.”
Go said he is willing to be a complainant against his own kin, if necessary, as he also urged the Discayas and other contractors to tell the truth about the scale of corruption in flood control and other infrastructure projects.
“Do not divert from the truth, not when we are close to getting to the real masterminds,” Go said without naming anyone.
The Duterte camp has pinned the blame for the flood control mess on the President’s cousin former speaker Martin Romualdez and on resigned congressman Zaldy Co who was House appropriations committee chairman.
The Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) earlier reported that two Go family firms CLTG Builders and Alfrego Builders and Supply are the top contractors in the Duterte political turf, Davao City.
CLTG, the senator’s initials, entered into a joint venture with the Discaya firm St. Gerrard Construction for projects in Davao City. The PCIJ found that CLTG’s joint venture projects in 2017 failed to meet contract deadlines. CLTG is owned by Go’s father Deciderio.
Go claimed CLTG backed out of the joint venture with the Discayas and that the firm finished all pending projects in 2019 and “retired” in 2022, or by the end of the Duterte administration.
Go said he never used his position to help his family curry favors from government. The PCIJ reported that CLTG saw its business boom during the Duterte administration.
“I do not control the businesses of my relatives. This is a rehashed issue. My family has been into the construction business long before I was born. I never interfered to ask for favors for my relatives because I observe delicadeza,” Go said.
“I am a senator, not a businessman or contractor,” he added. “Please do not hurl mud at me just to make yourself look clean.”
Go said he was wondering why the ombudsman is going after his family firm’s road projects in Davao when the issue is ghost or substandard flood control.
“The issue is flood control ghost or substandard projects. Let us hold those behind it accountable. Why is it looking like a cover-up? Let us not divert from the real issue,” Go said.
Ties that bind
Investigators, meanwhile, are looking into the ties that bind CLTG Builders and the companies linked to the Discaya couple.
Appearing at the office of the ICI yesterday for an asset recovery meeting with various agencies, Secretary Vince Dizon of the Department of Public Works and Highways said he spoke with Remulla after the Discayas announced their decision not to cooperate anymore with the ICI.
“We will begin investigating CLTG and its links to the Discaya companies from 2016 because the couple admitted at a Senate Blue Ribbon hearing that their firms earned huge profits,” Dizon said in Filipino.
ICI executive director Brian Keith Hosaka said the commission is prepared to invite Go and request for a lookout bulletin against him if evidence points to his involvement in any irregularities.
Remulla insinuated in an interview with “Storycon” on One News on Wednesday that the Discayas appeared to be protecting Go when they appeared before the Department of Justice.
“They told me that they never met Christopher Lawrence Tesoro Go,” the ombudsman said, referring to the senator by his full name, which is abbreviated as CLTG – the name of the company his father owned.
“Looking at their record, they have selfies and pictures with everybody they meet. Do you think that’s possible?”
Based on Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) documents, the Discayas’ business empire earned P1.3 billion in in 2017, up 942 percent from just P99 million the previous year. By 2018, their earnings soared by 1,065 percent to over P12 billion.
Sarah confirmed the joint venture with CLTG during her first Senate appearance on Sept. 1, but she did not elaborate. Go insisted he had nothing to do with his family’s business.
“I have no involvement in its operations,” he said during the hearing. “I was just 24 years old when I started working for former mayor Rodrigo Duterte.”
Dizon: No sacred cows
Dizon reiterated that the investigation on anomalous public works won’t be selective. “There won’t be any sacred cows in this investigation,” the public works chief said.
“Everyone who’s linked by the evidence should be held accountable; it’s as simple as that. It doesn’t matter if you belong to the previous or current administration,” he added.
He said that with the Discayas’ refusal to cooperate in the ICI probe, they would just have to air their side in the courts. “These are non-bailable cases, so let’s just go face to face,” Dizon said.
Meanwhile, Vice President Sara Duterte yesterday said the Marcos administration is likely to also link her to the flood control scandal.
“I am sure that the flood control scandal will not reach me because first of all, there are no flood control projects in the Office of the Vice President (OVP) or the Department of Education and the contractors and even (former DPWH) secretary (Manuel) Bonoan can say that I am not involved at all in the project of DPWH,” she said at forum. “I think they will try to link me because of former president Rodrigo Duterte’s ally, Sen. Bong Go. I think that’s where they will make that story. The part where me, PRRD in the middle, and Sen. Bong Go on the other side,” Duterte added. – EJ Macababbad, Bella Cariaso
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