NBI’s ₱2.4-B HQ Tied to Ghost Project Couple

MANILA - National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Director Jaime Santiago disclosed that the agency’s new headquarters on Taft Avenue in Manila is part of a contract awarded to companies owned by the couple Curlee and Sarah Discaya.

Santiago made the revelation amid an ongoing probe into ghost flood control projects allegedly facilitated by Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) officials in collusion with favored contractors.

He identified the contractor for the new NBI building as Way Maker General Contractor, a firm that had been awarded the project by the DPWH.

Reports in May 2023 indicated that the 12-storey NBI headquarters, with a project cost of ₱2.4 billion, is scheduled for completion in 2026. The old NBI building, which has stood for five decades, had earlier been declared structurally unfit by the Manila city government after extensive cracks were discovered.

The NBI chief assured the public that a strong case will be filed before the Department of Justice (DOJ) against certain DPWH officials and private contractors in connection with the alleged irregularities in the government’s flood control projects.