The Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday confirmed that the cases involving controversial contractor Cezarah Rowena ‘Sarah’ Discaya have been transferred to the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu.
SC spokesperson Camille Ting noted that the determination of the nearest judicial region shall be made by the presiding or executive judge concerned.
“The two criminal complaints against DPWH engineers of Davao Occidental and Sarah Discaya were transferred to the [RTC] of Lapu-Lapu City in accordance with the Court’s guidelines directing that corruption-related cases arising from infrastructure projects be forwarded to the nearest designated anti-graft court of the nearest judicial region,” she said.
Earlier this month, the Office of the Ombudsman filed malversation through falsification and graft charges against Discaya and other individuals linked to the P96.5-million ghost flood control project in Davao Occidental.
On Tuesday night, Department of Justice (DOJ) spokesperson Polo Martinez clarified that the transfer of venue is an initiative of the courts.
“There is a move to transfer the venue from Davao to Lapu Lapu City in Cebu initiated by the courts in relation to the OCA’s (Office of the Court Administrator) designation of special courts to try cases related to the flood control anomalies,” he said.
The SC designated several RTCs as special courts that will exclusively hear and decide corruption-related cases arising from infrastructure projects.
Meanwhile, Discaya remains under the custody of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) after her voluntary submission last week.
She was temporarily released yesterday to appear before the Office of the City Prosecutor (OCP) in Malabon in relation to a case filed against her by the city government of Malabon.
