Comelec show-cause order issued vs Escudero over P30M donation

Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero —Senate Public Relations and Information Bureau

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has issued a show-cause order directing Sen. Francis Escudero to explain his receipt of P30 million in campaign donations from a contractor, a move that could be a violation of the election code.

Comelec Chair George Garcia on Saturday confirmed that the order was already served to Escudero, who was scheduled to appear before the Political Finance and Affairs department of the poll body.

Escudero can either appear by himself or through a lawyer who can submit the affidavit to the Comelec, according to Garcia.

READ: Chiz-contractor-asked-explain-p30-m-donation

The scheduled hearing will determine if the donated funds to Escudero from Lawrence Lubiano, president of Centerways Construction and Development Inc., violated Section 95 of the Omnibus Election Code that prohibits contributions from any public or private institutions, including contractors, to any political candidate or political party.

This will be the main basis for the Comelec’s decision if there’s a distinction between the funds donated in the contractor’s private capacity or whether it was corporate money, Garcia said.

“The purpose of the provision Section 95 [of the Omnibus Election Code] was to prohibit all contractors of the government from abusing the donation [to candidates and parties] so that they can secure more contracts from the government,” Garcia said in Filipino in an interview with dzBB radio.

The Comelec has issued an earlier order against Lubiano to explain the P30 million donation. Garcia said Lubiano recently replied and prompted the poll body to issue another order to Escudero.

Lubiano admitted during a House hearing by the chamber’s tricommittee, which probed the anomalies surrounding the faulty infrastructure projects nationwide, that he donated P30 million to Escudero as part of his senatorial campaign last 2022.

Escudero himself confirmed that Centerways Construction donated P30 million for his campaign, but insisted that the company did not secure any flood control projects with the government. /mr