George Garcia, Comelec Chairman, Speaks on Investigation over Contractors’ Donations to Candidates
COMELEC – Commission on Elections chairman George Garcia revealed that six (6) senatorial candidates in 2022 received donations from contractors.
After President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. flagged 15 contractors that allegedly got around P100 billion from the government flood control deals since his term started, then-Senate Pres. Chiz Escudero admitted to receiving a P30-million campaign donation from one of the contractors cited by Marcos Jr. According to him, the contractor is his long-time friend and is also from Sorsogon.
The contractor was invited by the Senate and the House of Representatives amid the flood control probe. He was identified as Lawrence Lubiano, the president of the Centerways Construction and Development Inc. He admitted to giving Escudero a multi-million campaign donation.
However, the contractor linked to Sen. Chiz Escudero claimed that the P30-million campaign donation allegedly came from his own pocket. According to him, it did not come from the funds of the construction company that he is tied with.
Amid the criticisms against Escudero, Comelec confirmed that it will investigate campaign donations to election candidates from contractors. George Garcia, the poll-body’s chairman, previously clarified that contractors who are under existing contracts with the government are not allowed to donate to election candidates.
Recently, Comelec revealed that 6 senatorial candidates in the 2022 Elections received campaign donations from contractors. Based on a report on GMA News, three (3) of the six senators are incumbent while the other three (3) senatorial bets did not make it to the Senate Magic 12.
However, the Comelec Chairman refused to name the senatorial candidates in the 2022 Elections who received campaign donations from contractors amid the ongoing investigation. Based on the report, there is currently a total of 55 contractors that are being probed for alleged illegal donations to election candidates.
Previously, the Comelec issued a show cause order to Sen. Chiz Escudero over the P30-million campaign donation from the contractor. The former Senate President was also invited by the Independent Committee for Infrastructure (ICI) for the flood control probe.