BREAKING: The Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) has officially named former Quezon City 4th District Representative Marvin Rillo in its ongoing probe into alleged corruption involving multi-billion-peso flood control projects. Rillo is among over two dozen politicians, government officials, and Department of Public Works and Highways personnel placed under an immigration lookout bulletin order (ILBO) to prevent them from leaving the Philippines while investigations proceed.
Contractors Sarah and Curlee Discaya, key whistleblowers in the scandal, personally implicated Rillo during Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearings. They testified that “Ang tao ni Marvin Rillo, si Bogs Magalong, ang pumupunta sa amin para kunin ang pera sa aming opisina o sa Wine Story,” indicating that Rillo’s representative personally collected kickbacks from their office or other locations. The Discayas revealed that contractors were pressured to pay between 10% and 25% of project costs as kickbacks to lawmakers and officials to ensure project implementation and payment, with receipts and vouchers documenting these illicit transactions.
The controversy uncovered numerous incomplete, overpriced, and ghost flood control projects across provinces including Quezon City’s 4th District, Bulacan, and Iloilo. The ICI’s letter to the Department of Justice (DOJ), signed by Chairman Retired Justice Andres B. Reyes Jr., emphasized the importance of issuing the ILBO to ensure the availability of key personalities under investigation. Other notable individuals named include former House Speaker Martin Romualdez and Jinggoy Estrada.
Following PGMN’s high-impact investigative reports led by anchor Cj Hirro, Marvin Rillo filed multiple cyberlibel lawsuits against Hirro and PGMN for questioning his alleged involvement in corruption. Rillo denies all allegations, maintaining that his projects adhered to government regulations and dismissing the reports as false.
The PGMN exposé highlighted Rillo’s controversial multipurpose building project at Carlos L. Albert High School, which began in March 2023 with an allocated budget of over ₱71 million but remains unfinished with only foundations and posts erected. PGMN’s investigation revealed glaring discrepancies as bidding documents listed items consistent with a finished structure, while no budget approvals existed for subsequent project phases.
The exposé generated significant public attention, with over 30 million collective views across PGMN platforms. PGMN also aired testimonies from local fire victims accusing Rillo of withholding aid for political reasons and a whistleblower’s claim that Rillo took a 30% commission from district infrastructure projects, potentially amounting to nearly ₱197 million in kickbacks over three years.
In the lawsuit, Rillo specifically protested the brief mention of his expensive watch collection, claiming it was an intrusion into his private life. He cited Republic Act No. 6713, which mandates that public officials “shall lead modest lives appropriate to their positions and income” and “shall not indulge in extravagant or ostentatious display of wealth.” Although CJ Hirro did not list Rillo’s specific watches nor mention their cost in the exposé, netizens took matters into their own hands, compiling a list of the luxury timepieces he had been seen wearing publicly, worth a total of ₱29,366,288. These included the Rolex Sky-Dweller 326935 (₱3,114,608), the Patek Philippe Nautilus Travel Time 5990/1A (₱7,293,440), the Richard Mille RM 029 Titanium (₱7,236,320), the Rolex Daytona 116506 Platinum (₱5,328,960), the Rolex Datejust 41 126331 (₱1,120,000), and the Patek Philippe Nautilus 40.5 mm (₱5,272,960).
A member of the House of Representatives holds a Salary Grade 31 position, which translates to an approximate monthly salary of ₱293,191.00 and an annual salary of ₱3,518,292. Given this, Rillo’s alleged watch collection, valued at ₱29,366,288, is roughly 8.35 times his annual salary—an ostentatious display that has raised eyebrows, especially in the context of his public office duties and the legal requirements that govern his conduct.
Rillo’s narrow defeat in the 2025 elections to Congressman Bong Suntay by only 234 votes has been partly attributed to the public scrutiny from these corruption allegations.
As of October 2025, the DOJ has not formally charged Rillo but continues to investigate the flood control scandal alongside Senate and ICI probes.
