(UPDATE) THE contractor couple at the center of a widening bribery scandal, Pacifico and Cezarah Rowena Discaya, will no longer coope rate with the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) in its investigation of anomalous flood control projects, the panel’s executive director Brian Hosaka said Wednesday. In an interview after Wednesday’s hearing, Hosaka said the couple, better known by their nicknames Curlee and Sarah, who gained notoriety for flaunting their wealth in several interviews, invoked their right against self-incrimination. “They (the Discayas) are now saying they will no longer appear before the commission and cooperate,” Hosaka said. He said the contractor couple withdrew their cooperation after they saw a media interview of ICI Commissioner Rogelio Singson, who said no one has yet qualified to be considered a state witness. “They explained that they were thinking that when they cooperate before the ICI, they will be getting a favorable recommendation from the commission as state witness,” he said. The ICI official, however, said Singson’s remarks were his opinion, and not that of the commission. Hosaka said that the Discayas’ move would not affect the investigation, since the testimony and affidavits they presented before the body were already sufficient for the case buildup against those involved in the anomalous flood mitigation projects. The ICI official also said additional information from other resource persons could help the case. “There are many sources of information. In fact, many have already testified, and we will connect them to each other to find what really happened, and file cases against those involved,” Hosaka said. “But definitely, we will get to the bottom of this. We will continue our investigation to find out those who are truly liable.” Sarah and Curlee are among the contractors embroiled in anomalous flood control projects. The Discayas arrived at the ICI early Wednesday for the continuation of the closed-door hearings. Curlee, who is under Senate custody, was the first to arrive at the ICI office in Taguig, shortly before his wife, Sarah. It was their third appearance before the commission. During the previous congressional inquiries, the Discayas admitted to owning nine construction firms and even conceded that some of these companies had competed against each other for the same government projects, practically admitting to violating the government procurement law. Assistant Ombudsman Jose Dominic Clavano IV described the decision as “misguided.” “They are misguided. Cooperation with the government is their only option right now. It will serve the public’s interest as well,” Clavano said. Airtight cases The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) said it has compiled enough evidence to build an airtight case against government employees and private contractors linked to 421 ghost flood control projects. Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon said on Wednesday that the evidence in their possession was more than enough to pin down the brains of the nonexistent projects. “We will be providing the ICI with both testimonial and documentary evidence. We are now compiling them for submission to the Independent Committee on Infrastructure,” he said. “We will not just file cases, but we will also ensure that the culprits will be put behind bars,” Dizon added. Dizon said ICI adviser, retired PNP chief Rodolfo Azurin Jr., told him that 15 to 20 cases will be filed before the Office of the Ombudsman within the next few weeks. But Dizon did not identify the people who will be charged or say if the list includes lawmakers, saying that he did not want to preempt the ICI. The 421 validated ghost projects were part of the initial 8,000 that were inspected by the DPWH together with personnel from the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the Department of National Defense, and the Department of Economy, Planning and Development. Of the 421, Dizon said, 261 are located in Luzon, 109 are in the Visayas, and 51 are in Mindanao. He said the number is expected to increase as there are still thousands more that need to be validated. The DPWH reported a total of 238,200 infrastructure projects from 2016 to 2025, with about 12.5 percent or 29,800 of these being flood control projects. “We already issued show-cause orders to the DPWH officials and contractors linked to the said ghost projects,” he said, adding that administrative and criminal charges would be filed as well. Dizon said that all public works officials and contractors will be charged with malversation through falsification of public documents and violations of Republic Act (RA) 3019, or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, and RA 12009, or the New Government Procurement Act. Furthermore, Dizon said that public works officials involved, if proven guilty, will also be dismissed from the service and risk losing their professional licenses from the Professional Regulation Commission. He added that contractors found guilty of undertaking ghost and substandard projects would be permanently barred from participating in public works projects. “Once the project of a certain contractor is proven to be ghost or substandard, the contractor will be automatically blacklisted and banned for life aside from criminal charges,” Dizon said. More lookout bulletins Meanwhile, the ICI has requested the Department of Justice (DOJ) to issue a lookout bulletin against 19 people in connection with its ongoing probe into anomalous flood control and other substandard infrastructure projects. In a statement, the ICI said it sent a request to the DOJ for issuance of an immigration lookout bulletin order (ILBO) on Oct. 13 to prevent the possible flight of personalities linked to the questionable projects currently under investigation. Those named in the request were former Caloocan 2nd District representative Mary Cajayon-Uy, Arturo Atayde, Alvin Tan, Bong Marasigan, Elmer de Leon, Ed Fuentebella, Johnny Santos, John Mary Vianney Parago, Alvin Mariano, Ryan Uy, Darryl Recio, Nestor Venturina, Benjie Tocol and Romeo Magalong Jr. An ILBO was also sought against DPWH district engineers Ramon Devanadera, Johnny Protesta Jr., Aristotle Ramos and Michael Rosaria, and project engineer Angelina Garucha. The ICI earlier sought the issuance of an ILBO against several high-ranking officials and lawmakers, including former speaker Martin Romualdez and former Senate president Francis Escudero, Senators Joel Villanueva and Jinggoy Estrada, and former senators Ramon Revilla Jr. and Nancy Binay. An ILBO is an order to immigration authorities to monitor individuals who may be leaving the country. It differs from a hold departure order, which is a court-issued directive preventing an individual from leaving the country. The ICI said the individuals, who included more than a dozen lawmakers and former DPWH officials, were “subjects in a relevant position that operates to make them an inevitable personality during the fact-finding process.” On Tuesday, Romualdez, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s cousin, appeared before the ICI to testify concerning questioned insertions in the national budget and his involvement in DPWH flood control projects when he was still the speaker. Former Ako Bicol Party-list representative Elizaldy “Zaldy” Co, who was placed on the lookout bulletin on Sept. 25, was also summoned for his role as House appropriations panel chief in previous years, but he is still abroad somewhere and has not appeared before the commission.