It’s been a terrible campaign period so far for Team Kaya This, the Pasig City slate running in opposition to incumbent and re-electionist Mayor Vico Sotto’s Giting ng Pasig.
On April 4, the Facebook page “The Journal Pasig” posted a video of an interview with a 57-year-old woman with a mental disability. In the video, she said she had not yet received her monthly pension for persons with disability (PWDs) and that she will no longer vote for Sotto in the city’s local elections.
But on Thursday, Social Welfare Secretary Rex Gatchalian told ANC that the video was part of a smear campaign against Sotto. Gatchalian said that the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSWD) fact-finding teams have been in Pasig to investigate the smear campaign, concerned that the woman may have been coerced into making disparaging statements against Sotto.
It turns out he was right. According to Gatchalian, she had lined up for a rice distribution drive by vloggers when she was pulled aside and asked to be interviewed. “They managed to convince her to say yes, but at that point, she kept saying, ‘I don’t know what to say,’” he said. “They said, ‘Don’t worry. We’ll teach you what to say.’” The “interviewer” involved has not yet been publicly identified.
Gatchalian also said the DSWD knows where the video was taken, “It was in St. Gerrard Construction [headquarters], which I believe is somehow related to a candidate running in Pasig.”
According to Inquirer.net, St. Gerrard General Contractor and Development Corporation (SGGCDC) is owned by businesswoman and Pasig mayoral bet Sarah Discaya, after whom the Kaya This slate is named.
Pointing Fingers
Sotto has also been accused of sabotaging Kaya This’ campaign.
On March 26, Discaya said her team requested a permit from the city hall to use Plaza Rizal for her campaign kick-off event on March 28, but was only permitted to use Caruncho Avenue, which would put the event in the way of traffic.
“Paglilinaw lang po, ang local government unit po ang pumili ng alternatibong lugar, hindi ang Team Kaya This. Batid namin na makakadagdag ito sa traffic lalo na’t ito ay araw ng Biyernes. Napagpasyahan namin na hindi na muna ituloy ang kick-off event na ito sa nasabing lugar,” she wrote in a Facebook post.
In a comment under the post, Sotto claimed that Discaya’s team had applied for a permit to use Caruncho Avenue.
“Oh come on. Choice niyo pong lumipat sa Caruncho Avenue. Kung biglaan o sapilitan ang inyong paglipat, bakit kayo may application letter para sa Caruncho Westbound?” he said. “Diba yun din naman ang nakalagay sa barangay permit niyo sa San Nicolas? At nag-submit pa kayo ng proposed traffic plan?”
“Kung magkukuwento na lang din kayo, ikuwento po ninyo nang buo. Dishonesty e,” he added.
Discaya skipped the Peace Covenant the next morning, March 27. In the election tradition led by the Commission on Elections, candidates vying for locally elected positions must sign an oath promising that the elections will be peaceful, honest, and safe.
In Discaya’s absence, Sotto was photographed holding his hand up for an “air handshake,” while other candidates posed for photos with their election rivals.
On March 29, a day after the campaign period for local candidates started, Discaya criticized Sotto for “focusing too much on good governance.”
“Napabayaan ang health sector, ibang sectors like education,” she told reporters. “Going down sa may laylayan, doon tayo may problema,” she said.
After Team Kaya This congressional candidate Attorney Christian “Ian” Sia drew flak for telling a misogynistic joke about single mothers, he accused Sotto and his allies of turning the controversial remark into a national issue.
Sia said Sotto’s camp maneuvered the issue to distract the public from his administration’s shortcomings, including a lack of healthcare facilities and infrastructure projects. The accusation came after Sia apologized for the joke in a press conference.
On April 8, Pasig 1st District councilor candidate Shamcey Supsup-Lee officially withdrew from Team Kaya This, citing Sia’s remark as a violation of her advocacy for women empowerment. She is now running independently.
Fraud and Anomalous Contracts
Before the filing of certificates of candidacy in October 2024, Discaya’s husband and SGGCDC chief executive officer Pacifico “Curlee” Discaya said they were provoked to run against Sotto in the elections. “Wala kaming plan to run sa election, gusto lang namin tumulong sa paraang alam namin bilang private citizen at company, pero [si Sotto] ang nag-provoke sa amin to run.”
Sotto had earlier flagged the contracting company for fraudulent and anomalous contracts. He also linked SGGCDC to St. Timothy Construction Corp., the contracting firm that pulled out of a joint venture agreement with Comelec to supply automated election systems in the Pasig elections.
He alleged that the two companies have the same business address and incorporators, a claim the Discayas denied.
The Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) reported in 2018 that SGGCDC had bagged contracts worth P12.3 billion from the Duterte administration’s “Build, Build, Build” program.
The company was also suspended for a year by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) in 2015 for submitting a falsified tax clearance to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Procurement Service. However, during the suspension period, the company still won contracts worth P440.5 million, according to the PCIJ.
“There’s so many investigations surrounding them: fraud, misdeclaration, paggamit ng dummy, anomalies in different contracts,” Sotto said in October 2024, in response to Curlee Discaya saying the mayor was “politicizing” the firm. He stressed that his job is to ensure that the company is paying its taxes and following the city’s building code.
“Politics aside, the investigations have to continue and appropriate cases have to be filed,” he said. “So kahit anong mangyari sa May 2025, tuloy lang ‘yan.”
