The Supreme Court has dismissed a petition seeking to overturn a Commission on Elections (Comelec) ruling clearing Senator Francis Escudero of a P30-million campaign contribution from a government contractor, saying the case was filed under the wrong legal remedy.

The High Court, in a notice signed by Clerk of Court Marife M. Lomibao-Cuevas, said in a resolution dated 3 June 2026 it dismissed the petition for review filed by petitioner John Barry Tayam against Escudero and the Comelec’s Political Finance and Affairs Department (PFAD).

“The Court resolved to dismiss the petition for review dated 23 December 2025 filed by the petitioner for being the wrong remedy,” the resolution read.

The petition stemmed from the PFAD’s earlier decision to terminate its investigation of Escudero and businessman Lawrence Lubiano, president of Centerways Construction and Development Inc., over a P30-million donation the latter made to Escudero’s 2022 senatorial campaign.

The PFAD found no violation of the Omnibus Election Code, holding that Lubiano and his construction company were separate legal entities and Lubiano had made the donation in his personal capacity rather than through the corporation.

The dismissal was procedural rather than substantive, as it did not address the merits of whether the P30-million donation by Lubiano violated Section 95(c) of the Omnibus Election Code.

The immediate effect is a refurbished image for the now presiding officer of the Senate impeachment court.

With the start of the trial drawing intense scrutiny of Escudero’s fitness to preside following his alleged involvement in the flood control scandal, his pivotal role in the proceedings just got a needed shot in the arm.

Had the Supreme Court ruled against Escudero, it would have handed his opponents a ready-made argument that the presiding officer himself faced an unresolved question of integrity.

Tayam, a teacher from Las Piñas City, questioned the Court’s decision, arguing that Lubiano, as the company’s majority owner and president, should not be treated as entirely separate from the corporation for purposes of the election law prohibition on campaign donations by government contractors.

Earlier this year, the SC granted Tayam’s motion for leave to file and admit the petition for review, allowing the case to proceed for consideration. However, in its 3 June resolution, the Court dismissed the petition on procedural grounds, holding that a petition for review was not the proper legal remedy.

The Court did not rule on the merits of Tayam’s allegations regarding the legality of the campaign contribution, disposing of the case solely on the procedural issue.

Lubiano’s personal stake?

Escudero received during his 2022 senatorial run a donation from Lubiano, president of Centerways that secured major government flood control projects in the early years of the Marcos administration.

The controversy first surfaced when the Comelec’s PFAD recommended terminating the probe of Escudero and Lubiano in a resolution dated 26 November 2025.

The PFAD’s finding turned on a legal distinction: the donation was ruled to have been given by Lubiano in his personal capacity, not on behalf of Centerways, which supported the argument that it did not run afoul of the Omnibus Election Code’s ban on campaign contributions from government contractors.

That prohibition, under Section 95 of the Code, bars “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 works” from making political donations.

Tayam, who has made something of a habit of filing petitions on politically charged questions before the High Court, identified himself as a concerned citizen and filed a motion for leave to challenge the PFAD ruling, arguing that the Comelec had erred in clearing Escudero and Lubiano.

Central to his objection was his claim that Lubiano allegedly owns 99 percent of Centerways, undercutting the PFAD’s personal-capacity distinction.

Tayam formally asked the Court to annul and set aside the Comelec resolution and direct the poll body to initiate proceedings for violation of Section 95(c) of the Omnibus Election Code.

The case took on an unusual political charge because it directly implicated Escudero during a period when the senator was already at the center of the upper chamber’s leadership turmoil.

Notably, Escudero’s attendance at the Senate’s 3 June 2026 session, where a 12-member bloc declared the leadership posts vacant and installed Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian as Senate President Pro Tempore and acting Senate president, made him a pivotal figure in the Cayetano-Gatchalian quorum fight.