Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero has denied any involvement in flood control projects won by a construction firm that gave him a large donation during the 2022 elections. According to him, his campaign did not do anything illegal and he had no involvement in the bidding or awarding of the projects.
Escudero explained that the projects were contracts of the Sorsogon Provincial Government when he was governor of Sorsogon, and that he was not part of the national government procurement. He assured that he was not involved in the selection of the contractor, the development of the program, the allocation of funds, or the inspection of the projects.
Escudero admitted that the donor's company, Lawrence R. Lubiano, gave P30 million to his campaign. But he pointed out that there are no charges or allegations against the donor. He said the company's projects do not account for more than 1% of all flood control contracts from 2020 to 2024, so he does not understand why he is the focus of attention.
