ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Escudero submits reply over P30-M campaign donation, says it's legal

Escudero submits reply over P30-M campaign donation, says it's legal

Published Oct 14, 2025 04:14 pm

At A Glance

  • Senate President Francis "Chiz" Escudero, through his lawyer, defended as legal and properly declared the ₱30-million campaign donation he received from a contractor, as the Comelec's Political Finance and Affairs Department continues its fact-finding on whether to file cases under the election law ban on donations from government contractors.
The camp of Senator Francis "Chiz" Escudero submitted on Tuesday, Oct. 14, an affidavit explaining their position over the P30-million campaign donation he received from a contractor for his May 2022 election bid.
Senator Francis
Senator Francis "Chiz" Escudero (Senate PRIB photo)
“We're filing our submission early to respect the COMELEC process. Our position is clear: the donation was legal, fully declared, and follows long-standing practice," Atty. Ramon Esguerra, Escudero's legal counsel, said in a statement.
"The law is on our side, and we are confident the COMELEC will find no fault," he added.
Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia said that, for the part of the poll body, all the "ingredients" are already complete for that office to take proper action.
"Ito po ay hindi desisyon ng Commission En Banc, ito po ay desisyon lamang ng opisina na yun, Political Finance and Affairs Department (This is not a decision of the Commission En Banc; this is solely a decision of that office — the Political Finance and Affairs Department)," Garcia said.
"Kasi po sila ay engaged sa tinatawag na data gathering, fact-finding, therefore nasa kanila kung kakasuhan, di kakasuhan ang kontratista at kasama si dating SP Chiz Escudero (Because they are engaged in what is called data gathering and fact-finding, it is up to them whether or not to file cases against the contractors — including former Senate President Chiz Escudero)," he added.
The Comelec chief said that they are not interfering with that process, even adding that he has inhibited himself from it, as he had previously served several times as legal counsel for Escudero. He said that they will allow that office to determine what it deems appropriate in this case.
Now that Escudero has filed his defense, Garcia said that they will weigh that against the provisions of our laws.
"As for the others — the remaining 54 contractors — we are still waiting for confirmation from the DPWH as of today. That is why we cannot yet disclose their names, because we want to confirm first whether they are indeed public works contractors,” he added.
Under Section 95(c) of the Omnibus Election Code, no contribution for purposes of partisan political activity shall be made directly or indirectly by natural and juridical persons who hold contracts or sub-contracts to supply the government or any of its divisions, subdivisions, or instrumentalities, with goods or services or to perform construction or other work.
Escudero has already denied any involvement in flood control projects awarded to his top campaign donor.
He 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.

Related Tags

Chiz Escudero Commission on Elections (COMELEC) Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia Contractor Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH)
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.