The ongoing trade of barbs between lawmakers of the Legislative Chamber, namely the House of Representatives and the Senate of the Philippines, is unhealthy for the country as it sends a negative signal to international investors considering investments in the country, according to Senator Joseph Victor ‘JV’ Ejercito.

“Sana matigil na ang PR stunts na yan. Of all of these bickering and political conflicts, it doesn’t help. It doesn’t give a good signal abroad for potential direct investors or foreign direct investments (FDI), which we have been trying to lure. We are saying that the Philippines is already open for business, then the situation is this. It doesn’t help,” he said during the Kapihan sa Senado.

He added that the PR jobs to smear both chambers continue, even during the time of Senate President Migz Zubiri, and now during the time of Senate President Francis Escudero.

Ejercito said that unlike neighboring countries in ASEAN — namely Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand — which have been victorious in investing heavily in infrastructure, the Philippines seems to be lagging behind in terms of policies.

“We are lagging behind them. With the remaining three years of this administration, we have to triple our efforts, especially in infrastructure and energy policies, which are being scrutinized by foreign investors,” he stressed.

Preliminary data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas shows that the country’s FDI declined by 26.9 percent in the first five months of the year, from $4.0 billion posted in January–May 2024 to $3.0 billion in January–May 2025.

Congressmen hit

On Tuesday, Senate President Francis ‘Chiz’ Escudero accused some congressmen, supporters of the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, of being behind the PR stunt to smear his reputation after his ouster as Senate president.

This followed the release of an article linking him to Lawrence Lubiano, president of Centerways Construction and Development Inc., which was awarded P5.16 billion worth of flood control projects in Sorsogon, identified by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. during a press conference on Monday.

The link connecting Escudero and Lubiano is the latter’s P30 million campaign contribution to Escudero during the 2022 elections.

Escudero said a fellow senator informed him that a demolition job is expected to be launched against him to replace him when the next impeachment case against VP Duterte is filed in February next year.