While all eyes were on the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing on the Flood Control Scam scandal, a shake-up happened in Congress’ so-called upper chamber.
Senator Chiz Escudero was unseated as Senate President by the returning veteran Senator Tito Sotto. The former had only been reaffirmed in the role less than two months earlier at the opening of the 20th Congress, during which the latter assumed the position of Senate Minority Leader.
Escudero rose to the Senate’s helm after securing the backing of eighteen colleagues. Yet by 8 September, much of that support defected to Sotto – influenced, no doubt, by revelations that one of Escudero’s campaign donors also bagged large flood control projects in his home province of Sorsogon.
Under the Omnibus Election Code, “persons who hold contracts or sub-contracts to supply the government…with goods or services, or to perform construction or other works” are prohibited from making contributions to partisan political activity. It stands to reason: those in positions in power should not be indebted to private interests who make their living from the government.
Escudero was not the sole casualty of the latest Senate coup, his two closest allies also lost their posts. Senator Jinggoy Estrada, who was the Senate President pro tempore – the chamber’s second highest official – was also ousted, along with Majority Floor Leader Senator Joel Villanueva.
Like Escudero, the two senators also became embroiled in the controversy regarding flood control. Brice Hernandez, assistant district engineer of the 1st district of Bulacan province, dropped a bombshell during the House of Representatives’ own probe into the scandal, accusing both Estrada and Villanueva of receiving bribe money from anomalous flood control projects.
According to Hernandez, Estrada allegedly secured ₱355 million in funding for flood control projects in Bulacan in which the latter received 30 per cent of the sum in ‘kickbacks’. Villanueva, meanwhile, was said to have inserted ₱600 million for flood control projects in 2023 and likewise took a 30 percent cut from that allocation.
Even more sensationally, Hernandez testified that kickbacks were delivered in hard cash to senators inside the Senate building itself. To support his claim, the now-dismissed assistant district engineer presented the House inquiry panel with a photo showing bundles of cash spread across a table – allegedly, inside the Bulacan First District Engineering Office.
Lending credence to Hernandez’s testimony, Blue Ribbon Committee chair Senator Ping Lacson – who assumed the post from Rodante Marcoleta following the Senate coup – revealed that a staff member of WJ Construction, identified by Hernandez as the courier of bribe money, was caught on CCTV entering the Senate premises on the exact date he claimed the kickback was delivered.
Adding more weight to Hernandez’s testimony, Lacson also found a line item in the 2025 Budget worth ₱355 million for flood-control projects in Bulacan. The exact amount that the disgraced former assistant district engineer accused Sen. Estrada of securing.
The revelations were staggering. The thought of millions of Filipinos enduring with floods after typhoons, often resulting in disease and death, juxtaposed with the photograph of large sums of cash intended to prevent such disasters, was nothing short of enraging.
Though much of Hernandez’s testimony has been deemed credible, further investigation is needed before Estrada and Villanueva are deemed guilty. Likewise, the Commission on Election’s (COMELEC) inquiry into Lawrence Lubiano, president of Centerways Construction and Development Inc. and Escudero’s campaign donor, must be concluded before the deposed senate president can be judged.
However, the gravity of the accusations cannot be ignored. For the Senate to probe the flood-control corruption scandal while three of its then-highest-ranking officers were implicated would have only undermined the chamber’s credibility in investigating corruption.
Hence, the latest leadership shuffle in the Senate can only be good news for those desiring for a credible and impartial investigation into the flood-control corruption scandal. Estrada, Villanueva and Escudero can focus their efforts in proving their innocence, without the burden of leadership weighing them down.
The article highlights a concerning political corruption scandal in the Philippines, suggesting that those in power should not be influenced by private interests. The detailed account of the alleged bribery and kickbacks in flood control projects is alarming and underscores the need for transparency and accountability in government.
The article highlights a deeply concerning corruption scandal in the Philippines, emphasizing the urgent need for transparency and accountability in government to prevent such abuses of power and ensure public trust.