The Senate’s investigation into alleged corruption in the government’s flood control projects has become a battleground for one of the biggest political scandals of the year. What started as a hearing into project anomalies quickly widened into a web of lawmakers, contractors, and Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) officials accused of pocketing hefty kickbacks or enabling questionable insertions into the national budget.
As hearings drag on and testimonies pile up, the inquiry has drawn some of the country’s most powerful figures into the spotlight and caused leadership shake-ups in both the Senate and the House of Representatives.
Below is a rundown of the key players in the flood control hearings, from senators facing charges to whistleblowers and businessmen whose revelations have rattled Congress, the DPWH, and the nation as a whole.
The Blue Ribbon Chairmen
When the Senate started probing the anomalies in the flood control projects in August, the committee was chaired by Senator Rodante Marcoleta. After Sen. Vicente “Tito” Sotto III took over as Senate president in September, Marcoleta — now a minority member of the upper chamber — was replaced by Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson.
The leadership shake-up may be a point of tension between the two lawmakers. During the September 24 hearing, Lacson accused Marcoleta of being overly protective of contractors Sarah and Pacifico “Curlee” Discaya, questioning his impartiality in pushing for their witness protection status. Marcoleta also questioned Lacson for saying in a media interview that he would choose former DPWH Bulacan District Engineer Henry Alcantara as a state witness over the Discayas.
The DPWH Insiders
One of the first DPWH officials to appear in the Senate flood control hearings is Cathy Cabral, who previously served as the agency’s undersecretary for planning and public-private partnership. In September, she submitted her resignation amid mounting pressure and accusations that she had a role in irregularly inserting projects into the national budget.
The first DPWH provincial office to go under scrutiny is its Bulacan office, where engineers Henry Alcantara and Brice Hernandez worked and allegedly carried out a kickback scheme involving the province’s flood control projects. Both have testified on insertion schemes, cash deliveries, and substandard construction, with Hernandez corroborating Alcantara’s accounts of commissions routed to politicians through intermediaries.
The Accused Senators
Senators Jinggoy Estrada and Joel Villanueva were implicated by Hernandez, who testified that both received 30 percent of commissions from multimillion-peso flood control projects in Bulacan. The National Bureau of Investigation has since recommended bribery and malversation charges against the two.
Meanwhile, Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero was accused by former DPWH Undersecretary Roberto Bernardo of demanding a P160 million cut from flood control projects worth about P800 million, allegedly coursed through businessman Maynard Ngu as his bagman. Escudero has strongly denied the claims and vowed to sue Bernardo, framing the accusations as baseless and politically motivated
The Businessmen
Of all the personalities involved in the flood control probe, none are under as much public scrutiny as the Discayas, who have amassed over P31 billion in flood control contracts between 2019 and 2025. Sarah and Curlee Discaya, owners of nine contracting firms, gave an explosive testimony in a hearing when they alleged that at least 17 congressmen demanded as much as 25 percent in kickbacks on their flood control projects. Since then, they’ve sought protection as state witnesses, but this matter remains under discussion.
Another businessman who has found himself embroiled in the flood control scandal is Maynard Ngu, a tech billionaire and President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s special envoy to China for trade, investment, and tourism. He allegedly served as a conduit for around P160 million in supposed kickbacks to Escudero, thus earning allegations of being the senator’s “bagman.” Amid pressure from these revelations, Ngu resigned from the board of directors of property firm Altus Property Ventures, Inc., but remains the CEO of Cosmic Technologies, the company behind the Cherry Mobile brand.
The Congressmen
Navotas Representative Tobias “Toby” Tiangco has actively pushed for accountability in the flood control scandal, filing ethics complaints and highlighting the central role of former Congressman Zaldy Co in budget insertions as former chair of the House Committee on Appropriations. He was also accused by Co’s partymate, Ako Bicol Rep. Alfredo Garbin Jr., of inserting P529 million in the 2025 General Appropriation Act, though Tiangco has denied the claim, stating that he is not part of the bicameral committee in charge of the national budget.
Meanwhile, former House Speaker Martin Romualdez was named by contractors in testimonies but denies any involvement. Both Romualdez and Co will be invited to the next Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing, but Co’s attendance cannot be guaranteed as he has not yet returned to the Philippines.
