Health Secretary Ted Herbosa on Wednesday disclosed that a construction company linked to Curlee and Sarah Discaya was behind an unfinished Department of Health (DOH) facility in the Zamboanga region.
Speaking during the Senate finance committee’s hearing on the proposed P320.5-billion DOH budget for 2026, Herbosa said he initiated a review of the agency’s infrastructure projects after the recent flood control controversy.
He revealed that St. Timothy Construction Corporation, connected to the Discayas, had left a health center project in Zamboanga incomplete in 2020 despite receiving full payment. “The facility was built but not finished, so it could not be used by the public,” Herbosa said, adding that the DOH has launched an investigation.
DOH supervising auditor Ameer Gamama later clarified that it was actually St. Gerard Construction, another Discaya-owned firm, that handled two idle projects in Zamboanga City and Zamboanga del Norte.
These included the Mindanao Central Sanitarium, a P133-million project reportedly 98% complete but left idle without final acceptance, and the Sindangan Satellite facility, worth P22.45 million, which is now being used as classrooms by Mindanao State University.
Herbosa said he suspects collusion between DOH personnel and the contractors.
“If our engineers certified the project as complete, that explains why it was paid. I will investigate why progress billing was bypassed,” he said, vowing to file cases before the Ombudsman if government officials are implicated.
Senate finance committee chair Sherwin Gatchalian also cited a 2024 Commission on Audit report showing 123 delayed DOH contracts worth P11 billion. Herbosa admitted many projects get settled only after arbitration but stressed that delays prevent the government from getting full value for money.
