Ethics Complaint Filed vs. Sen. Chiz Escudero amid the Flood Control Mess in PH
CHIZ ESCUDERO – The Senator is faced with an ethics complaint over the P30-million campaign donation that was given to him by a contractor.
Some senators are accused of involvement in the flood control issue in the Philippines. One of them is Sen. Escudero who previously admitted to receiving a P30-million campaign donation from one of the contractors flagged by Pres. Bongbong Marcos.
According to Escudero, the contractor who gave him P30-million for his senatorial bid in 2022 was his long-time friend who is also from Sorsogon. The said contractor was later on identified as Lawrence Lubiano, the president of the Centerways Construction and Development, Inc.
The contractor linked to Sen. Chiz Escudero claimed that the P30-million campaign donation allegedly came from his own pocket. He stressed that it did not come from the construction firm that he was tied to. His claim came after the Commission on Elections (Comelec) clarified that government contractors with existing contracts are prohibited to donate to candidates of elections.
Amid the issue, Escudero who was sitting as the Senate President then was ousted and replaced by Senate Pres. Tito Sotto, formerly the Senate Minority Leader prior to the shakeup in the upper chamber. Escudero previously attended the investigation of the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) over the flood control mess. The ICI was created upon the order of Marcos Jr.
Recently, an ethics complaint was filed against Sen. Chiz Escudero. Based on a report on GMA News, a lawyer-complainant made the complaint in lieu of the P30-million campaign donation that the Senator received from a contractor. According to the complainant, it allegedly jeopardized the integrity of the Senate as an institution.
Amid the flood control mess, a former undersecretary of the Department of Public Works and Highways, Roberto Bernardo, claimed that Escudero allegedly got P160 million kickback from a flood control project. The Senator denied the claim and asked for the involvement of former House Speaker Martin Romualdez and Zaldy Co in the issue. According to him, it allegedly seems impossible that they are not involved.
In his recent privilege speech before the Senate, Sen. Chiz Escudero slammed former House Speaker Martin Romualdez and claimed that he is allegedly the mastermind behind the flood control corruption accusations against the senators.