Comelec not singling out Escudero on campaign donation issue – Garcia

FILE PHOTO: Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero. SENATE SMU

MANILA, Philippines — Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairperson George Erwin Garcia on Tuesday said the poll body is not singling out Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero over receiving campaign donations from a contractor.

The clarification came after Escudero on Monday expressed concern about being singled out over campaign contribution issues.

In his statement, he said former House Speaker Martin Romualdez was behind the accusations directed at him.

READ: Escudero cries being singled out on campaign contribution issue

Escudero said that while he was “just being honest and did only what was right and proper for the country and the people,” “all the slander, defamation, and lawsuits” against him and the Senate began.

“With all due respect, the idea that we are singling anyone out is not true,” Garcia said in Filipino.

“The reason Senator Chiz Escudero came up first is because the contractor admitted it, and Escudero himself also confirmed that he indeed received a donation from the said contractor,” he added.

During a House hearing on flood control projects, Centerways Construction and Development Inc. President Lawrence Lubiano admitted to Akbayan Party-list Rep. Chel Diokno that he donated P30 million to Escudero’s senatorial campaign for the 2022 elections.

Escudero confirmed the donation and clarified that he did not assist the firm in securing major flood control projects. He made the clarification after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. revealed that only P100 of the entire P545-billion budget for flood mitigation projects from July 2022 to May 2025 was awarded to 15 contractors, including Centerways.

Garcia added that Lubiano’s legal counsel has already appeared before the Political Finance and Affairs Department (PFAD) after the contractor was issued a show-cause order to explain his donation to Escudero’s campaign.

“We will write to the candidate who received it, Senator Chiz Escudero, so that the good senator can explain whether there was indeed a violation of Section 95(c) of the Omnibus Election Code,” Garcia said in Filipino.

READ: Macalintal: Election law bars campaign donations from gov’t contractors

The Section 95(c) of the Omnibus Election Code states that “[n]o contribution for purposes of partisan political activity shall be made directly or indirectly by any of the following: (c) natural and juridical persons who hold contracts or subcontracts to supply the government or any of its divisions, subdivisions, or instrumentalities with goods or services, or to perform construction or other works.”

The last part of Section 95 also states that “[i]t shall be unlawful for any person to solicit or receive any contribution from any of the persons or entities enumerated herein.”

Garcia said it is up to Escudero’s discretion to attend hearings after being summoned, as this is part of due process.

“It is up to him, and up to the investigation, whether he wants to explain, present a defense, or share his side,” he explained in Filipino.

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Garcia added that the PFAD, the department responsible for reviewing and validating statements of contributions and expenditures, now has an initial list of possible contributions to candidates’ campaigns.

He said that he wants the department to write to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to confirm if the contractors who funded campaigns have government contracts.

He also said that the DPWH has still not responded to the poll body’s request to verify whether the 55 contractors found to have donated to candidates in the 2022 elections have signed contracts with the government./mcm