2 top flood-control contractors linked to Vico Sotto's rivals in Pasig

MANILA, Philippines (2nd update. First published: Aug. 11, 6:07 p.m.) — When President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. bared an audit report on the country's top flood-control contractors, Pasig Mayor Vico Sotto noticed that two of the country’s two of them are linked to the businesses of his former rival, Sarah Discaya.

These two were Alpha & Omega Gen. Contractor and Development Corp. and St. Timothy Construction Corp., both of which were named among the five firms that carried out projects in almost every region.

“Ngayon, unti-unti nang nalalaman ng taumbayan ang buong katotohanan. As the president told them during the SONA, ‘Mahiya naman kayo!’” Sotto said in his Facebook post on Monday, August 11.  

(Now, the public is discovering little by little the whole truth. As the president told them during the SONA, “Be ashamed of yourselves!”)

Sotto then laid out the “six stages of corruption,” identifying procurement irregularities, use of subpar materials, tax delinquencies, project-level corruption and missing business tax payments to the local government.

The Pasig City mayor then promised that the local government will inform the president of all the “red flags” it sees over flood control projects.

“Second, we will continue the cases against these people so that we can collect the millions if not billions of pesos that they owe the LGU in business taxes,” he added. 

Once the Pasig LGU collects the outstanding business taxes, Sotto said it will have the funds to build facilities for the judiciary and other national government agencies without cutting funding from other programs.

The Discayas

But how are the Discayas connected to these two firms? Sotto noted that the family owns or operates several construction-related companies based in Pasig. These include:

• St. Gerrard General Contractor and Development Corp.
• St. Timothy Construction Corp.
• Alpha & Omega Gen. Contractor
• Elite General Contractor and Development Corp.
• St. Matthew General Contractor & Development
• Great Pacific Builders and General Contractor
• YPR General Contractor and Construction Supply
• Amethyst Horizon Builders and General Contractor & Dev't Corp.
• Way Maker OPC

Sotto backed up his claim with a photo of calling cards reportedly belonging to Sarah’s husband, Pacifico “Curlee” Discaya II, revealing his position as chief operating officer in most of the listed firms.

In 2024, Sotto disclosed that the Pasig City government filed three cases against St. Gerrard for failing to secure occupancy permits, along with three additional cases related to business permit issues. The Discayas dismissed these as persecution, considering the timing of the filings.

Sotto, however, maintained that the construction firm is facing multiple fraud allegations and contract irregularities, including one involving a bridge collapse outside Pasig. 

Since the case concerns taxes paid to the city, he vowed to uphold the building code and enforce related laws.

The new website tracking flood control projects shows St. Gerrard handling 23 projects across the country worth P2.28 billion, scheduled for completion between 2022 and 2024.

On the other hand, St. Timothy manages around 100 projects worth P7.02 billion, with deadlines between 2022 and 2025. It secured three contracts with Elite General worth P209.76 million. 

Meanwhile, Alpha & Omega General Contractor is listed on the website with 100 flood control projects valued at more than P7.16 billion. It bagged two flood control projects with Elite General amounting to P184.32 million. 

Past issues

The offices of St. Gerrard Construction, St. Matthew General Contractor, and Alpha & Omega General Contractor share a four-story compound on F. Manalo Street in Bambang, Pasig.

In 2020, the Department of Public Works and Highways blacklisted St. Gerrard for a year for contract delays. It wasn’t the construction firm's first time.

The Discaya family says they divested from St. Timothy Construction around 2017 or 2018, but they still own Alpha & Omega Gen. Contractor & Development Corp.

The Right to Know, Right Now! Coalition reported that the Discayas were incorporators of St. Timothy Construction, which served as the Commission on Elections’ original contractor in a joint venture with Miru Systems for the 2025 elections. 

The firm pulled out after the Comelec discovered that Sarah Discaya was running for Pasig City mayor.

Flood control projects issue

President Bongbong Marcos disclosed on Monday the top 15 construction firms awarded government flood control contracts during his first three years in office.

These firms collectively received 20% of the P545 billion budget for nearly 10,000 projects from 2022 to 2025. That amounts to about P109 billion split among them, or an average of roughly P7.27 billion each.

Meanwhile, the remaining P436 billion was distributed among 2,394 solo contractors, averaging about P182 million per contractor.

This stark budget allocation disparity means less than 1% of developers accounted for P1 of every P5 spent during the first half of Marcos’ term for flood control projects.

Marcos committed to reviewing and auditing flood control projects during his term in his fourth State of the Nation Address (SONA) after concerns mounted over billions allotted despite limited visible results.

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Editor's Note: The article has been updated to reflect the latest data under the "Sumbong sa Pangulo" website, monitoring the flood control projects of the Marcos Jr. administration.