Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero on Tuesday, August 12, denied any involvement in flood control projects awarded to his top campaign donor, calling a news report on the matter a “malicious” and “ill-timed” smear job meant to oust him ahead of a possible impeachment bid in February 2026.

In a press briefing, Escudero addressed a news article that identified one of the contractors flagged in President Marcos' recent flood control spending report as his biggest contributor in the 2022 elections.

“For the record, wala akong kinalaman sa pag-identify, paggawa ng program of work, pag-bid, pag-award, pagbayad, pag-inspeksyon ng anumang proyekto sa pamahalaan, sa Sorsogon man o sa labas ng lalawigan (For the record, I have nothing to do with the identification, preparation of the program of work, bidding, awarding, payment, or inspection of any government project, whether in Sorsogon or outside the province),” he said.

Escudero confirmed knowing the contractor, a fellow Sorsogon native, but stressed that the P5.16 billion in projects attributed to the firm represented “less than one percent” of the total funds cited by the President.

President Marcos bared that 20 percent of the entire P545-billion flood control projects were awarded to only 15 contractors, adding that five of them had contracts around the Philippines. The construction firm being linked to Escudero ranked seventh among those.

“Bakit pinagtuunan ang pansin yan? One percent pa talaga, hindi 99%? (Why focus on that? Just one percent, not 99%)?” he said, questioning why the focus was on his supposed connection to the contractor instead of lawmakers or government officials directly engaged in contracting.

He maintained that he has had no involvement in any construction or supply business since entering government service in 1998. Escudero further pointed out that, based on the President’s data, the bulk of the projects awarded to the contractor were secured before he returned to the Senate in 2022.

While he noted that the news article did not allege any illegal act on his part, Escudero felt the need to address the insinuations being made.

He added that the article made no claim that he committed anything illegal, but insinuations in it were timed to link him to the controversy as part of a broader “demolition job” by lawmakers, particularly from the House of Representatives.

“Mayroong demolition, PR job na nakatuon laban sa akin… upang tiyakin na maalis ako sa puwesto at nang pag-file muli ang impeachment ay wala na ako dito pagdating February 6 (There is a demolition and PR job directed against me… to ensure that I am removed from my post so that when the impeachment is filed again, I will no longer be here by February 6),” Escudero said.