DPWH, Ombudsman probe Bong Go family firm | The wRap - video Dailymotion

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Here are today’s headlines – the latest news in the Philippines and around the world:  - DPWH, Ombudsman investigating Bong Go family firm’s ties with Discayas  - Chiz Escudero’s brod-in-law is DPWH contractor, projects spiked under Marcos  - Senate, House approval ratings drop amid flood control mess – Pulse Asia  - NIA denies Lanao ‘ghost project,’ but Antatico’s photos tell another story  - Prosecutor’s removal from Duterte case has ‘no impact’ – ICC   https://www.rappler.com/video/daily-wrap/october-16-2025/

Transcript

00:00Today on Rappler

00:07The Public Works Department and the Ombudsman are investigating links between a firm owned by

00:18Senator Bongos' family and the Diskayas. The Escuderos are linked to 2 billion peso

00:23construction company Octagon whose project spiked in 2024 under President Ferdinand

00:28Marcos Jr. Approval ratings of the Senate and House representatives drop amid the flood control mess.

00:34The National Irrigation Administration denies allegations of a ghost project in Lanao,

00:39but Nairo Kyle Antatico's photos say otherwise. And the removal of ICC prosecutor Karim Khan

00:45has no impact on former President Rodrigo Duterte's case at the Hague.

00:50Public Works and Highway Secretary Vince Dizon says the agency, along with the Office of the

00:55Ombudsman, is investigating the links between CLTG Builders and controversial contractors

00:59Curly and Sara Diskaya.

01:00Today, ubiksa na namin ang pag-iimbestiga sa CLTG Corporation at yung links nito sa Diskaya Company

01:11simula 2016.

01:13CLTG Builders is owned by Senator Bongos' father, Desiderio Go. CLTG are the initials of Go's

01:19complete name, Christopher Lawrence Tesoro Go. Rappler earlier reported that CLTG Builders entered a

01:26joint venture with St. Gerard Construction and bagged five infrastructure projects in the Davao

01:30region. The projects amount to over 816 million pesos. St. Gerard is owned by Curly Diskaya.

01:38However, Senator Go denies intervening in his family's business. He tells Rappler,

01:43quote,

01:43I have nothing to do with their business. You should ask them, not me.

01:50The Escuderos are linked to construction company Octagon Concrete Solutions, a company that's now

01:54worth 2 billion pesos propelled by projects in 2024 under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

02:00From 2016 to 2025, under former President Rodrigo Duterte and Marcos, Octagon's DPWH contracts,

02:06including its joint ventures, reached a total amount of 6.45 billion pesos.

02:1243% of that amount, or 2.8 billion pesos, were won from 2023 to 2025.

02:18Their major project in 2024 was the 964.8 million pesos phase 3 of the Tacloban Airport terminal in

02:25the hometown of Leyte 1st District Representative Martin Romualdez, the president's cousin and former

02:30speaker who has become Cheese Escudero's foe. Escudero claims allegations against him are part

02:36of Romualdez's plan to divert the issue. Octagon Concrete Solutions is partly owned by Joseph John

02:42Quirante, the husband of Sorcegon 1st District Representative Det Escudero, the younger sister

02:47of Senator Cheese Escudero. Quirante is the chief financial officer of Octagon and owns 5% or 50

02:53million pesos worth of shares in the company. Octagon's president is Milton S. Ngu, the brother

02:59of Maynard S. Ngu. Maynard has been accused of being Escudero's bagman for DPWH projects.

03:05Escudero has since denied the allegations.

03:12Approval ratings for both chambers of Congress dropped by double digits. This as some lawmakers

03:27are implicated in alleged corruption involving infrastructure projects. In a survey by Pulse

03:32Asia in late September, the Senate's approval rating went down to 42% from 53% in June, while

03:38the House of Representatives' rating dropped even more from 47% to 30%. The nationwide survey

03:44was conducted from September 27 to 30 among 1,200 respondents through face-to-face interviews.

03:51During this time, both the Senate and the House were discussing the proposed 2026 national budget.

03:56Before this, some lawmakers were accused of getting kickbacks from suspicious flood control projects

04:00during congressional investigations. In September, both chambers underwent changes in leadership after

04:06former Senate President Jesus Escudero and ex-House Speaker Martin Romualdez were linked to

04:10questionable budget insertions and other issues.

04:15National Irrigation Administration Administrator Eduardo Guillén rejects the claims of murdered

04:20whistleblower Nairo Kyle Antatico. Antatico, a former legal researcher at the NIA, accused the

04:25regional office of signing off on a 75-million-peso ghost project in Maguing, Lanao del Sur.

04:30He posted on Facebook the photos, documents, and accusations that the regional office approved and paid for a

04:36questionable project. Days later, he was gunned down in Cagayan de Oro City.

04:41In a DZBB interview, Guillén said his office received Antatico's complaint,

04:45but validation showed the project is existing and functional.

04:48He adds the structure was an irrigational canal, not a farm-to-market road, which he said is under the

04:53Department of Agriculture. The photos Antatico shared, showing cracked concrete, silty channels,

04:59and irrigation canals that stop halfway, told a different story than what Guillén claimed.

05:04NIA says in a statement, the photos of Maguing irrigation project are outdated and don't reflect

05:09its current state. The International Criminal Court says the removal of Prosecutor Karim Khan

05:16from the case against former President Rodrigo Duterte has no impact on the case itself.

05:21This disqualification from this case does not have an impact on the case itself, so it does not have

05:28an impact on the case against Mr. Rodrigo Duterte. The activities of the office of the prosecutor

05:35in relation to the investigation related to the situation in the Philippines continues to be led

05:41by the deputy prosecutor, Mr. Nyang. The decision to disqualify Khan is due to quote a number of factors

05:48that may give rise to an objectively reasonable appearance of bias. According to the ICC's rules,

05:53a prosecutor is prohibited from participating in matters where his impartiality might be reasonably

05:58put into doubt. Back in 2018, Khan assisted war on drugs victims while serving as a private lawyer,

06:04thus casting doubts on his impartiality in performing his duties as prosecutor.

06:09Khan has been on leave since May following an ongoing inquiry by the United Nations into his alleged

06:14sexual misconduct. Deputy Prosecutor Mamandjayan Yang has been in charge of the Duterte case since then.

DPWH, Ombudsman probe Bong Go family firm | The wRap

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