The ongoing trade of barbs between lawmakers of the Legislative Chambers, namely the House of Representatives and the Senate of the Philippines, is not healthy for the country, as it sends a negative signal to international investors considering investment in the country, according to Senator Joseph Victor Ejercito.
On Tuesday, Senate President Francis ‘Chiz’ Escudero threw accusations that some congressmen who are supporters of the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte are behind the PR stunt to smear his reputation following his ouster as Senate president.
This was following the release of an article stating his connections to Lawrence Lubiano, president of Centerways Construction and Development Inc., who bagged the P5.16 billion worth of flood control projects in Sorsogon, identified by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in a press conference on Monday.
The string that attaches Escudero and Lubiano is that the latter gave Escudero P30 million in campaign funds during the 2022 elections.
Escudero said a fellow senator told him the demolition job will be in the offing for him to be replaced when the next impeachment case of VP Duterte is filed in February next year.
“The article against me, in relation to the flood control controversy of President Marcos Jr. yesterday, is malicious and ill-timed. I acknowledged the subject of the article, contractor Lubiano, a kababayan in Sorsogon. But what he had secured is just P5.4 billion allegedly, wala pang isang porsyento ng kabuuang pondo na sinasabi ng Pangulo sa flood control. My question is, bakit pinagtuunan ang 1 percent na yun at hindi yung 99 percent? Bkit hindi yung mga mambabatas at government officials na contractor?” Escudero asked.
The Senate President maintained that he is not a contractor and has never been engaged in contracting supplies in any government infrastructure projects since he entered politics in 1998.
“The contractor of Sorsogon secured the flood contract before I entered the Senate in 2022. Malisyoso ang artikulo. The timing of the insinuation is ill. Behind this are those who were hurt, hit by my privileged speeches during the debate. That’s the information I got. They are not in the Senate but outsiders. Obvious naman kung sino at sila yung may gusto ng impeachment,” the Senate President hinted.
Despite this, Escudero acknowledged that nothing is wrong written in the article; however, he questioned the apparent innuendo of it.
“The accusation happened when I was not yet a Senator, and currently as Sorsogon governor. In my 27 years in the government, a wrong for me is wrong, and what is right is right,” according to Escudero.
In his presentation, President Marcos Jr. identified the five contractors that stood out in cornering most of the flood control projects in the country as Legacy Construction Corp., Alpha & Omega General Contractor & Development Corp., St. Timothy Construction Corp., EGB Construction Corp., and Road Edge Trading & Development Services.
The contractors that cornered about P100 billion, or roughly 20 percent, of the total flood control budget were Legacy Construction Corporation, Alpha & Omega General Contractor & Development Corporation, St. Timothy Construction Corporation, QM Builders, EGB Construction Corporation, Topnotch Catalyst Builders Inc., Centerways Construction and Development Inc., Sunwest Inc., Hi-Tone Construction & Development Corporation, Triple 8 Construction & Supply Inc., Royal Crown Monarch Construction & Supplies Corporation, Wawao Builders, MG Samidan Construction, L.R. Tiqui Builders Inc., and Road Edge Trading & Development Services.
According to Marcos, there were 6,021 projects worth more than P350 billion, but the type of flood control structures built, repaired, or rehabilitated was not specified.