Comelec summons Escudero over P30-M donation from contractor

Former Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero is set to explain the P30-million campaign donation he received from top flood control contractor Lawrence Lubiano of Centerways Construction and Development Inc. during his 2022 senatorial campaign.

Comelec Chairman George Garcia on Saturday confirmed that a show cause order (SCO) was issued to Escudero on Friday, directing him to appear before the poll body’s Political Finance and Affairs Department on 13 October 2025.

Lubiano admitted during a House hearing that he donated P30 million to Escudero’s campaign but claimed the money came from his personal account and not from his company.

Escudero, who first entered the Senate in 2007, also ran for vice president in 2016 alongside then-presidential candidate Senator Grace Poe. According to his Statement of Contributions and Expenditures (Soce) submitted to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) in 2016 and published by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ), Escudero declared P322,567,073.63 in total contributions and spent P321,014,827.64.

During that campaign, Escudero clashed with then-vice presidential rival Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, who accused Grace Poe of having “businessmen supporters” behind attack ads targeting Rodrigo Duterte.

"It is a fact that more big businessmen are behind him and his campaign for how else can he afford to spend nearly half a billion pesos on pre-campaign ads alone, not to mention other campaign expenses?" Escudero said at the time.

Returning to the present case, Garcia said the Comelec is determining whether the P30-million donation violated Section 95 of the Omnibus Election Code, which prohibits contractors or entities with government projects from contributing to political campaigns.