Sen. Chiz Escudero’s troubles continue to mount after being slapped with an ethics complaint over a P30-million campaign donation from government contractor Lawrence Lubiano in 2022.
Marvin Aceron, a private lawyer, filed the case before the Senate Committee on Ethics, which is chaired by Sen. JV Ejercito. In Aceron’s 21-page complaint, he said that Lubiano’s firm, Centerways Construction and Development Inc., had more contracts after Escudero’s win in the 2022 elections.
Aceron said that there were 112 contracts worth P16.67 billion under Sorsogon’s 1st and 2nd Districts from 2021 to 2025. Prior to Lubiano’s donation, the firm only had 12 contracts worth P720 million.
Lubiano’s contracts following his donation to Escudero amounted to around P15.9 billion.
‘The sheer number, aggregate value, and geographic concentration of these projects, coinciding with the P30-million donation, underscore the appearance of impropriety and raise serious doubts about the independence of public procurement from political influence,’ Aceron wrote in the complaint.
Lubiano also has a majority stake in Metroways Health Care and Medical System Inc., which is another firm that won government contracts in Bicol, Aceron said.
The complaint has six grounds:
Conduct unbecoming a member of the Senate (disorderly behavior)
Conflict of interest / improper influence
Election Law public policy and prohibited sources (Omnibus Election Code)
Integrity of public procurement
Financial opacity, serial restatements, and the alter ego doctrine
The full complaint can be read here.
Martin again?
Escudero has slammed the complaint filed against him, again blaming former House Speaker Martin Romualdez.
‘This is just part of the harassment from his minions. This isn’t about ethics. This is political retribution. This complaint is still part of their script and a desperate smokescreen. I will expose it for the politically motivated sham that it is,’ Escudero said in a statement to the media, without directly addressing the contents of the complaint.
The former leaders of Congress have already traded verbal barbs. Escudero has accused Romualdez of corruption, while Romualdez said that the former Senate president is following a Diehard Duterte Supporter script.
Both lawmakers have been implicated in the flood control corruption mess, where billions of pesos are suspected to have been lost in kickback schemes.