Marilyn Cahatol

People walk past posters of candidates during the campaign season for the national and local elections on March 28, 2022 at Brgy. Bliss in Quezon City. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News

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ELECTION-CAMPAIGN

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/176506848306820220328-election-campaign-posters-JC-24.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">People walk past posters of candidates during the campaign season for the national and local elections on March 28, 2022 at Brgy. Bliss in Quezon City. <em>Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News </em></span></span></span></div><p>MANILA — The decision by the Commission on Elections&#x27; Political Finance and Affairs Department <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/11/26/comelec-dep-t-clears-escudero-over-p30-m-campaign-donation-1255">clearing Sen. Francis &quot;Chiz&quot; Escudero</a> of liability for a P30-million campaign donation from a contractor sets a precedent for them to dominate campaign finances in elections to come, election watchdogs and lawyers said.</p><p>Campaign donor Lawrence Lubiano&#x27;s companies had been awarded contracts in Sorsogon, where Escudero was governor before running for senator in the 2022 polls. The Comelec&#x27;s PFAD said, however, that Lubiano is distinct from his companies.  </p><p>Kontra Daya Convenor Danilo Arao said the decision “sends the wrong message to people that even if you got contributions from confirmed contractors, you can still get away with it as long as you declare donations as individuals.”</p><p>This, he said, contradicts the purpose of the Statement of Contributions and Expenditures (SOCE) to uphold fairness and transparency in the election campaign. </p><p>“This means that private contractors can now donate to the politicians of their choice. In fact, they can even donate to everybody so that whoever wins will be still in the good graces of these private contractors,” he said. </p><div><br/></div><div><strong>&#x27;INDIRECT&#x27; DONATIONS</strong></div><div><br/></div><p>The PFAD said the donation did not violate Section 95(C) of the Omnibus Election Code (OEC), which prohibits “contribution for purposes of partisan political activity made directly or indirectly” by any “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.”</p><p>Centerways had engaged with government contracts since 2016 based on the Department of Public Works and Highways’ transparency portal but PFAD said there was “no evidence” that Lubiano made the donation on behalf of the company.</p><p>Eric Jude Alvia, National Citizens&#x27; Movement for Free Elections secretary-general, urged Comelec to weigh between technicalities and the provision’s intent, highlighting that the decision may lead to candidates actively soliciting donations from people with resources despite potential conflicts of interest.</p><p>“It&#x27;s (Section 95) precisely placed there because they want to prevent conflict of interest and the abuse of contributions to favor anyone,” Alvia said. </p><p>Former Comelec Commissioner Luie Guia said the agency should consider if PFAD&#x27;s interpretation of the law matches its intent. </p><p>He said the Comelec should also look if the donor, especially an owner of a company that engages with government projects, could have an interest contradicting the positional mandate a candidate aspires to possess.</p><p>Comelec Commissioner Rey Bulay said in an interview that the commission is &quot;not allowed to interpret the law,&quot; only to &quot;strictly apply&quot; what it says. </p><p>For Alvia, other agencies like the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) should also dig deeper into whether there was fraud in contractor-donors securing government projects.</p><p>This, especially for Centerways, whose owner is also the <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/regions/2025/9/3/flood-control-project-contractor-s-brothers-are-mayor-and-councilor-in-sorsogon-0103">brother </a>of two elected officials in Sorsogon, where it secured 30 projects.</p><p>Centerways is also among the <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/8/11/15-contractors-cornered-p100-b-worth-of-flood-control-projects-since-2022-marcos-1053">top 15 contractors</a> flagged by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for cornering P100 billion or 20 percent of the flood control projects since 2022. </p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/8/11/a-deeper-look-into-marcos-s-list-of-top-flood-control-contractors-0037"><strong>A deeper look into Marcos’s list of top flood control contractors</strong></a></div><div> </div><div><strong>‘INDIRECT’</strong></div><div><br/></div><p>Lawyer Ryan Jay Roset, senior program director of Legal Network For Truthful Elections (LENTE), said he was “not convinced” by PFAD&#x27;s decision emphasizing that the provision on campaign donations covers both direct and indirect contributions from companies.</p><p>“What I would say is that ‘Was Mr. Lubiano used or in a way served as a medium para magkaroon ng contribution yung corporate entity?’ Dapat yun yung tanong,” he said. </p><p>(The questions should be whether Mr. Lubiano used, or, in a way, served as a medium for a corporate entity to make a contribution)</p><p>Roset also questioned the need for a company document to show involvement when the donation was made by the owner himself.</p><p>“You’re sending a signal [that] as long as it&#x27;s a corporate entity, if there is no secretary certificate, you cannot be held accountable under the law.”</p><p>Like Roset, Mamamayang Liberal Party-list Rep. Leila De Lima underscored the legal principle of &#x27;piercing the corporate veil&#x27;, where company owners may be held liable for its actions.</p><p>“The law speaks of natural and juridical persons who have contracts with the government. It does not prevent a natural person from being penalized under the law if that person as the beneficial owner of a corporate contractor donates to an election campaign,” she said in a Facebook post. </p><p>The lawmaker called PFAD’s decision “short on diligence.”</p><p>For Escudero’s part, meanwhile, Arao said “no politician in his or her right mind would admit that the contractors funded their campaigns,” but would rather do so “surreptitiously and creatively.”</p><p>“It is supposed to be an open-and-shut case because the owner is very much involved with the company. In fact, he owns the company. So that should be reason enough for Comelec to investigate,” he said. </p><div> </div><div><strong>&#x27;COMELEC SHOULD RELEASE COMPLETE SOCES&#x27;</strong></div><div><br/></div><p>Arao called out the insufficient information in the publicly available SOCEs, which only shows the document’s first page. </p><p>He urged Comelec to release the whole documents and its annexes, saying: &quot;the public deserves to know the raw data” </p><p>On the legal side, the activist and professor said the Omnibus Election Code should be amended to mandate candidates to post and update their campaign solicitation and expenses online in real time to shed light on alleged “unacceptable actions” by politicians, especially during campaign periods. </p><p>“We have to be as creative as possible because candidates, especially from the rich and powerful, they are doing anything and everything to circumvent the law,” he said. </p><p>An online real-time SOCE mechanism will also ensure candidates adhere to the spending limit per voter, he added. </p><p>Roset from LENTE, meanwhile, said a real-time posting of SOCE requires additional manpower and could discourage financially-challenged candidates from running.</p><p>Arao suggested the government to subsidize candidates’ campaign expenditures to avoid contractor-donors and put all candidates on an equal footing.</p><p>But this may only be done if the Philippines employs an ideology-based party system, instead of the personality-based system seen in the present political landscape, he said.</p><p>Meanwhile, NAMFREL&#x27;s Alvia wants to expand SOCE coverage to include the year before the filing of candidacy to prevent candidates from circumventing the law by making election-related transactions and campaigns long before the elections, then minimizing transactions during the campaign period.</p><p>“Ang ginagawa nila, a year or two before the elections, ang daming financial transactions for campaign purposes, and nagka-campaign sila. Pero pagdating ng campaign period, they observe the prohibition that ban only within 120 days or 90 days before the election day coverage. Pero alam naman natin na yung pera pumapasok na sa kanila even prior to that,” he added.</p><p>(A year or two before the elections, they make several financial transactions for campaign purposes, and they campaign. But when the campaign period arrives, they observe the prohibition that bans only within 120 days or 90 days before the election day coverage. But we know that money were sent to them even prior to that.)</p><p>In Escudero&#x27;s case, the flood-control corruption scandal prompted Comelec to conduct a motu proprio investigation into the donation.</p><p>Alvia also urged the Comelec to be more proactive in scrutinizing the SOCEs, especially of candidates in the 2025 elections. But he and other experts said the government must first provide enough resources to support the two-year-old PFAD.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/11/13/comelec-reviewing-soces-over-concerns-on-marcoleta-s-declaration-2255"><strong>Comelec reviewing SOCEs over concerns on Marcoleta&#x27;s declaration</strong></a></div><p>Now that the department has submitted its recommendation on Escudero&#x27;s case, the baton has been passed to the Comelec en banc, expected to make its final decision. </p><p>Experts called on the agency to consider the decision’s “dire consequences” on future candidates’ campaign finances and the interests that future politicians will serve as public officials.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO:</strong></div><div style="text-align:center"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4RH6kN9jvxg?si=VHVy1mx7ATr-4XJQ" title="YouTube video player" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div><div> </div>

<p>Election watchdogs and lawyers weighed in on the Comelec Political Finance and Affairs Department’s (PFAD) <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/11/26/comelec-dep-t-clears-escudero-over-p30-m-campaign-donation-1255">decision clearing </a>Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero’s P30 million campaign donation. All agreed it sets a precedent for contractors to dominate the campaign finances in the next elections.</p>

Election watchdogs and lawyers weighed in on the Comelec Political Finance and Affairs Department’s (PFAD) decision clearing Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero’s P30 million campaign donation. All agreed it sets a precedent for contractors to dominate the campaign finances in the next elections.

Contractors could be biggest campaign donors in next polls after Escudero case — experts

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Contractors could be biggest campaign donors in next polls after Escudero case — experts

Marilyn Cahatol,

ABS-CBN News

Published Dec 07, 2025 11:30 AM PHT

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Francis Escudero

Commission on Elections

PFAD

Campaign finances

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