00:00Today on Rappler
00:07Sarah and Curly Descaya say they gave kickbacks to government engineers and congressmen,
00:19including Ex-Appropriations Chair Zaldi Co. and House Speaker Martin Romualdez.
00:24Voting 15-9, Senators oust Cheese Escudero as Senate President
00:28and replace him with Tito Soto.
00:31President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. decries the shameless corruption in government infrastructure projects.
00:37Drug war whistleblower Royina Garma will serve as a witness in the ICC case of former President Rodrigo Duterte.
00:43And Filipina tennis star Alex Ayala wins her first-ever WTEA 125 title.
00:50Top floodwork contractors Sarah and Curly Descaya name members of Congress and government engineers
00:56who allegedly demanded kickbacks from them.
00:59This as they express the desire to turn state witnesses in an infrastructure scandal.
01:03Standing out in the list is their political rival, Pasig City Rep. Roman Romulo,
01:08whom Curly said sent people from the local DPWH office between 2022 and 2025.
01:14Meantime, Romulo in a statement denies the allegations and says he was never in any bidding
01:19nor had a hand in selecting contractors.
01:21During the hearing, the Descaya couple said public officials sought commissions not lower than 10%
01:27and as high as 25% for every contract.
01:31Curly says DPWH officials often name-dropped Ako Bicol Partilist Representative Zaldi Ko
01:36as one of the higher-ups demanding a commission.
01:39He adds,
01:40It was Quezon City 4th District Rep. Marvin Rilio who name-dropped House Speaker Martin Romualdez,
01:46allegedly saying that Romualdez had approved the budget from unprogrammed funds and insertions.
01:51Romualdez also denies the allegations, saying,
01:54If anyone invoked my name, they did so without my knowledge and without my consent.
01:58These are the other House Representatives named by the Descayas.
02:13The couple also named DPWH officials who allegedly benefited from them.
02:18Voting 15-9 Senators oust Cheese Escudero as Senate President Monday, September 8.
02:31Senate Minority Leader Tito Soto replaces him and tells reporters
02:34he met with Escudero on Monday and the latter agreed to step down.
02:38Senator Ping Lakson is now Senate President pro tempore, replacing Senator Jingoy Estrada,
02:43while Sen. Mig Zubiri will be the Majority Leader in place of Sen. Joel Villanueva.
02:49Rappler sources say the 15 Senators who supported the leadership change are the following.
02:58The Senate leadership shake-up comes as the upper chamber probes anomalous government flood control projects,
03:04which Escudero's campaign top donor is being linked to.
03:07Lawrence Lubiano is President of Center Waste Construction and Development, Inc.,
03:11which was named by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. as 7th of the top 15 contractors for flood control projects.
03:18Lubiano contributed 30 million pesos to Escudero's campaign.
03:23Before the flood control mess, Escudero was perceived to have delayed the impeachment trial of Vice President
03:27Sara Duterte and faced heavy criticism.
03:31Soto challenged Escudero's leadership during the opening of the 20th Congress on July 28.
03:36Soto served as Senate President from 2018 to 2022.
03:39Rappler sources claim Soto was previously Marcos' choice for the Senate presidency.
03:45President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. decries the garapalan or shameless corruption plaguing government infrastructure projects.
03:52This after his administration's Sumbong sa Pangulo website received over 12,000 complaints in less than a month.
03:58In his fourth BBM podcast last Sunday, September 7th,
04:01Marcos said he was shocked by how bad the corruption had become,
04:05noting that things were different when he was governor of Ilocos Norte.
04:08Ako nasasya-saka kung hindi ako makapaniwala na nandito na tayo na ganit na na ang gobyerno na hindi nila tinatago.
04:18Garapalan na po.
04:19Since its launch on August 11, the website Sumbong sa Pangulo has received reports not only about ghost and substandard flood control projects,
04:26but also about poorly built and overpriced roads and highways.
04:30Marcos confirmed that his inspections in Bulacan validated some of the complaints filed by citizens.
04:35Rappler, meantime, has noted difficulties in accessing the website.
04:41Justice Secretary Boying Remulia says in a press conference,
04:45drug war whistleblower Royina Garma will be a key witness in the Crimes Against Humanity case of former President Rodrigo Duterte.
04:52This comes after the Bureau of Immigration confirmed on Saturday, September 6,
04:55that Garma had returned to the Philippines following a failed attempt to seek asylum in the United States.
05:00Remulia says Garma is meeting with the representatives of the International Criminal Court to serve as a witness in Duterte's case.
05:07The Bureau of Immigration announced on Sunday, September 7,
05:10that Garma had departed for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia as a tourist.
05:14Remulia also clarifies that although the Philippines has no official working relationship with the International Criminal Court,
05:19the country remains responsible for ensuring the safety of witnesses involved in international cases.
05:24In October 2024, Garma testified before the House of Representatives,
05:29accusing Duterte of masterminding the war on drugs and the extrajudicial killings that involved an estimated 30,000 victims.
05:37Filipina tennis star Alex Ayala overcomes a bad start in makes history again as she clinches her first-ever WTA challenger crown.
05:45Ayala completed her come-from-behind 1-6, 7-5, 6-3 win against Hungary's Pana Uvardi
05:51to rule the WTA 125 Guadalajara Open in Mexico on Sunday, September 7, Manila time.
05:58After a quick first set where Uvardi broke serve four times,
06:01Ayala fought back and took a 5-3 lead in the second set, winning a long eighth game with three deuces.
06:07Uvardi tied it at 5-5 but Ayala went ahead 6-5 and saved four breakpoints in the 12th game
06:13to push the match to a final set.
06:15In the third set, Ayala dominated, holding all four of her service games and breaking Uvardi in the last game.
06:21Ayala redeemed herself after she settled for a runner-up finish in the WTA 250 Eastburn Open
06:26where she lost a tough three-set match to Australia's Maya Joint in June.
06:32And that's today's wrap. I'm JC Gutinga. Thank you for watching.
06:36Click the link below for the full story.
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