Say what, Chiz?

As Senate President, Chiz Escudero cannot just wave away the allegations of graft by using the worn-out excuse of a demolition job against him, since circumstances that encompass the 2025 budget scandal are inescapable.

Escudero downplayed his ties to a flood control project contractor who was among the 15 named by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. as cornering P100 billion in contracts in the past three years.

Centerways Construction and Development Inc., based in Sorsogon, secured between P5.16 billion and P5.4 billion in flood control projects from 2021 to 2024, when Escudero was back in the Senate.

Escudero admitted the company’s owner, Lawrence Lubiano, was a close friend and Centerways contributed P30 million to his 2019 campaign.

The Omnibus Election Code prohibits government contractors from donating to election campaigns. An election lawyer said Escudero’s acceptance of Lubiano’s contribution would have violated the law if Centerways had a government contract at the time of the donation.

The allegations against Escudero extend to his involvement in the P150-billion insertions in the 2025 bicameral conference committee report, P9.1 billion of which was funneled to Sorsogon.

Also, another significant amount — P12 billion — was infused into Bulacan, the province of his ally Sen. Joel Villanueva.

Escudero labeled the reports a “malicious and ill-timed demolition job,” insinuating that members of the House of Representatives — bitter over the archiving of the impeachment complaints against Vice President Sara Duterte — were behind it, possibly to unseat him from the Senate presidency.

His overstretched apologies do not fit Escudero’s well-crafted image of being beyond suspicion when it comes to corrupt practices.

He had demanded in a bill that all officials waive the bank secrecy law in the aftermath of the 29 May 2012 conviction of Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona.

Escudero was one of 19 senator-judges, along with presiding officer Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, who adjudged Corona guilty.

Most of Centerways’ projects were in Sorsogon’s First District, Escudero’s bailiwick.

The revelations about the Centerways projects neatly tie in with the allegation that Escudero facilitated the insertions in the final version of the 2025 national budget bill.

Escudero vigorously defended the fund reallocations in the bicameral conference committee, particularly the scrapping of the P74-billion subsidy to the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth).

The Senate President, who plays a key role in the budget process, must come clean on the allegations, or he will further erode his and the upper chamber’s credibility.

While political motives may be ascribed to Escudero being at the forefront of the shelving of the impeachment case against Duterte, the allegations of corruption stemming from the revelations of President Marcos would be difficult to shrug off.

He needs to address the substantive allegations.

As one of the leaders of the bicam, which came up with the “most corrupt budget ever,” would it be far-fetched to conclude that Escudero must have enjoyed its sinister rewards?

This is not so much about Escudero as the integrity of his honored position of Senate president and the august institution that he represents.