Sarah Discaya not offended by Michael V.'s 'Ciala Dismaya' parody—lawyer
Comedy legend Michael V. has been the talk of the town for his upcoming parody of controversial government contractor Sarah Discaya.
Even before Sarah's appearance at the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee on Monday, Sept. 8, users had made memes about her resemblance to Michael or Bitoy.
But the following day, GMA Network's gag show Bubble Gang broke the internet when it shared a photo of Bitoy all dressed up as Sarah—complete with a pair of eyeglasses, a mole below the nose, lipstick, and a long umbrella, an apparent reference to the contractor saying in an interview with Julius Babao that she bought a Rolls-Royce because she likes its built-in umbrella.
"May sasabihin pa siya!" Bubble Gang said in a Facebook post, adding that Bitoy's character will be in a "hearing" on Sunday, Sept. 14.
For days, the page has been sharing more photos and teaser videos, eventually revealing the name of Bitoy's character: Ciala Dismaya.
"Ciala" is a seeming reference to the Filipino slang "shala," which means posh or high-class, while "Dismaya" is the Filipino word for disappointment.
'Okay lang sa kanya'
Discaya's lawyer, Atty. Cornelio Samaniego III, said she doesn't take offense at Bitoy's portrayal.
In an ambush interview, he was asked if Discaya got angry at the trending photos.
“Hindi po. Okay lang sa kanya. Alam mo naman si Sir Bitoy, talaga namang idol ko nga 'yan,” Samaniego said.
Samaniego noted that Discaya doesn't have any "violent reaction" toward the parody.
“Nirerespeto natin si Michael V., idol natin iyan sa Bubble Gang. Trabaho niya ‘yan," he said. "Parang ako, abogado, trabaho ko ito. Si Sir Michael, trabaho niya yun. Doon siya kilala. So, bakit tayo magagalit?” he added.
Corruption in flood control projects
Before the national attention and outrage toward Sarah and her husband, Curlee, flood control projects made the headlines in July as the rains triggered massive flooding in the metro. At the time, economist JC Punongbayan questioned why flooding persists despite having billions of pesos in flood control allocations over the years.
Sen. Ping Lacson told dzBB that since 2011, about P1 trillion allocated for flood control projects may have been lost to corruption.
That prompted President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., in his fourth State of the Nation Address, to call out government officials involved in corruption in flood control projects.
Marcos ordered the DPWH to "immediately submit" to him the list of flood control projects from every region that were started and completed in the last three years. He said a project monitoring committee will evaluate this list to determine the failures, as well as the unfinished and ghost projects.
Days later, Marcos launched the Sumbong sa Pangulo website, where the public can track and report anomalous flood control projects and other possible corrupt practices.
According to the website, there are 9,855 flood control projects totalling P545.64 billion since July 2022. Of that number, 6,021 projects worth over P350 billion don't specify the exact type of flood control being built, while several others in different locations also have the same contract cost.
Marcos also stated that there are 15 contractors who have exclusively secured 20% of all flood control projects worth P100 billion over the last three years.
Among them were the Discayas, who were thrown into the spotlight when Pasig Mayor Vico Sotto, whom Sarah unsuccessfully ran against in the midterm elections, posted about their controversial interviews with Korina Sanchez and Julius Babao.
In the interviews, the Discayas talked about their "inspiring" rags-to-riches life story, showcasing their dozens of luxury cars and other assets. Babao asked them what served as their "gateway" to have a better life, and Sarah answered, "Noong nag-DPWH kami."
After Sotto's posting, the couple's story unraveled and opened a can of worms. It led to flood control projects being the talk of the town, a Bureau of Customs chase, revocation of the Discaya companies' licenses, and congressional hearings.
It also rubbed off on other contractors, as users also began noticing several children of politicians and contractors, branding them as "nepo babies," who flex their designer clothing and fly to different countries in seemingly unapologetic fashion—and even vlogging about their comforts. Many celebrities and personalities, who are typically mum on politics, have also decided to speak up amid the controversy.