Senate Pres. Chiz Escudero Speaks on Donation of Flood Control Project Contractor
CHIZ ESCUDERO – The Senate President confirmed receiving P30 million as a campaign donation from a firm that was awarded a flood control project.
Several areas in the Philippines recently experienced flooding following the wrath of the Southwest Monsoon and tropical storms Crising, Dante, and Emong. During his 4th State of the Nation Address, the flood control projects in the country were among those mentioned by the President.
In his SONA 2025, Pres. Bongbong Marcos said he personally checked the flood control projects and found a failure. Senator Alan Peter Cayetano even reacted to Marcos Jr. mentioning about the failed flood control projects of the government. According to him, it is the first time that he heard a President referring to a flood control project as the cause of the flooding while most presidents boasted their flooded projects.
Recently, Pres. Bongbong Marcos revealed that the Philippines has spent P545 billion for the flood control projects across the nation from July 2022 to May 2025. He also claimed that most of these flood control projects got the same project costs despite the differences in the terrain and the location.
”The total cost of all of the projects since July 2022 until today is P545 billion. I don’t know about you but that is a very big number, by any measure that is an enormous number,” the President said.
Marcos Jr. cited that 1,058 flood control projects worth P52.57 billion were done in the National Capital Region (NCR) while 1,617 projects worth P98.01 billion were done in Region III and 866 projects worth P49.61 billion in Region V. He also named the 15 contractors who allegedly got a huge percentage of the flood control projects of the government:
- Legacy Construction Corporation
- Alpha & Omega Gen. Contractor & Development Corp.
- St. Timothy Construction Corporation
- QM Builders
- EGB Construction Corporation
- Topnotch Catalyst Builders Inc.
- Centerways Construction and Development Inc.
- Sunwest, Inc.
- Hi-Tone Construction & Development Corp.
- Triple 8 Construction & Supply, Inc.
- Royal Crown Monarch Construction & Supplies Corp.
- Wawao Builders
- MG Samidan Construction
- L.R. Tiqui Builders, Inc.
- Road Edge Trading & Development Services
Recently, based on a report on Inquirer, Senate Pres. Chiz Escudero admitted that he received campaign donations in 2022 from one of the contractors cited by Pres. Bongbong Marcos. According to Escudero, Centerways Construction and Development Inc. donated P30 million to him for his campaign.
Senate Pres. Chiz Escudero denied helping the Centerways Construction secure government flood control projects despite the campaign donation he got. According to him, it is an “insinuation” because of what he received but the owner of the firm has long been his friend and they’re from the same province of Sorsogon where he has also served as a governor.
“That’s the same innuendo and insinuation that’s always being attached and said just because someone contributed or gave. He has long been my friend and acquaintance, and he has genuinely helped us—even long before this became an issue—and he’s really from Sorsogon,” the Senate President said.
Furthermore, based on the report, when asked if he assisted the firm in securing government flood control projects, Senate Pres. Chiz Escudero claimed that the company got more projects when he was not yet a senator.
Aside from revealing that 20% of the P545-billion flood control projects of the government were awarded to 15 contractors, Pres. Bongbong Marcos also claimed that five (5) contractors allegedly have secured flood control projects in almost all regions in the country. He vowed for investigation.