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Screenshots from a News5 video showing Sarah Discaya in the custody of the National Bureau of Investigation late on Thursday, Dec. 17, 2025.
News5; Phistar.com composite
MANILA, Philippines — The Supreme Court has thrown out a bid by flood control contractor Sarah Discaya to block her prosecution for graft and malversation over an allegedly unfinished P96.5-million flood control project in Davao Occidental.
The High Court, sitting en banc on April 8, dismissed Discaya's certiorari petition challenging the Office of the Ombudsman's finding of probable cause against her for violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act and malversation through falsification of public documents.
The petition was already moot, the SC said in a briefer. The Ombudsman had filed criminal informations against Discaya before the Regional Trial Court, which had issued a warrant for her arrest.
Discaya argued the Court should still intervene to safeguard her constitutional rights or because the charges were baseless. The SC rejected this, saying she failed to prove any exception applied.
Determining probable cause during preliminary investigation is the exclusive function of the public prosecutor, the SC said. Courts do not, as a rule, interfere. The Ombudsman's findings, it added, were backed by substantial evidence.
The charges stemmed from a complaint by Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Vince Dizon against Discaya and several officers of the DPWH Davao Occidental District Engineering Office.
At issue was a concrete revetment in Davao Occidental awarded to St. Timothy Construction Corp., owned by Discaya. Dizon alleged the government was defrauded when the firm collected the full P96.5 million payment despite the project remaining incomplete.
Discaya and nine co-accused — including St. Timothy president Maria Roma Rimando and eight DPWH Davao Occidental district officials — pleaded not guilty when arraigned in January before Regional Trial Court Branch 27 in Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu, a special court designated by the SC to hear infrastructure corruption cases.
The Ombudsman has recommended no bail for the malversation charge, meaning the accused remains detained pending trial. — Cristina Chi
