Senate protects its own

Initially, it was a strip-tease of condemnations by senators of the ringleaders of the budget fraud that pointed to members of Congress as the culprits — without pinning them down.

Now, the Senate blue ribbon probe into flood control projects is going in circles, diverting blame to the subordinates while shielding the legislator-ringleaders for whom they packaged lucrative projects in their turf.

Notice how the narrative is now centered on the lifestyles of the contractors and their relatives, while the senators and representatives who enjoy a similar lavish existence receive subdued media coverage, if at all, except in the DAILY TRIBUNE.

Lawrence Lubiano, an avid supporter of Senate President Chiz Escudero and president of Centerways Construction and Development Inc., the biggest flood control contractor in Sorsogon province, was at the Senate’s “Philippines under water” inquiry but was never bothered with a question.

The same with dismissed DPWH Bulacan First District Engineer Henry Alcantara, who is closely associated with Senator Joel Villanueva, a native of the province. Alcantara was spared the brutal grilling the other resource persons were subjected to.

At the House, which has a tenuous relationship with the Senate, Lubiano was questioned by Akbayan Rep. Chel Diokno. Seeking to establish a concrete link between the contractor and Escudero, Diokno was able to extract a confession.

Lubiano said his firm secured over 80 projects, primarily in Sorsogon, Escudero’s province.

He confirmed having deep roots in Sorsogon, as he has brothers holding public office in the province, including a town mayor and a city councilor, whom he did not name.

Lubiano then owned up to a P30-million donation to Escudero’s 2022 campaign but qualified later, on the advice of someone behind him, probably a lawyer, that it was a personal donation.

The Lubiano family has been participating in bids for flood control projects since 2009, which means that Centerways Construction had an existing government contract when it donated to Escudero’s Senate bid. Escudero’s buddy also admitted that he won contracts for 80 projects from 2022 to 2025 during the senator’s incumbency.

Alcantara, meanwhile, admitted negligence in approving documents without personal inspections, such as signing certificates of completion for projects like a P55.7-million river wall in Barangay Piel, Baliwag, and a P93-million structure in Calumpit that were not finished or built at all.

He also confessed to going to casinos two to three times a month and losing at least P30,000 per visit, sometimes with subordinates Brice Hernandez and Jaypee Mendoza, which violated the strict rule against public officials going to casinos.

Villanueva, at a gathering to distribute cash doles, had introduced Alcantara as his district engineer.

Alcantara had certified the release of payments to contractors SYMS Construction Trading and Wawao Builders for ghost projects. These included projects that President Marcos inspected last month, which prompted the congressional probes.

The President’s expression of anger would be meaningless without getting to the root of the graft, which is the greed for pork barrel through insertions in the annual budget that resulted in the shoddy projects now under probe.

The half-baked Senate probe was customized to deflect blame from its members whose involvement in the flood control scandal is arms deep.