Comelec looking into 2022 poll donations for 6 more senators
Six more senators received campaign donations from contractors for the 2022 elections, although the Commission on Elections (Comelec) is still confirming whether these donors and their companies are engaged in supplying goods and services to the government, an act prohibited by the Omnibus Election Code.
Comelec Chair George Erwin Garcia on Tuesday said the campaign donors of these senators were among the 55 contractors listed as contributors in 2022 based on the statements of contributions and expenditures (Soce) submitted to the poll body.
“Around six, if I am not mistaken,” Garcia said in a dzMM interview when asked whether there were more senators who received campaign donations from contractors.
He, however, declined to identify these senators pending the results of the Comelec’s investigation.
‘Provide the names’
A poll watchdog, however, urged Garcia to publicize their names, noting that Soces are public documents.
“For transparency, it is necessary for Garcia to provide the names not just of senators but also of the flagged donors,” Danilo Arao, convener of Kontra Daya, said in a Viber message to the Inquirer on Tuesday.
During a recent congressional hearing on the government’s flood control and other infrastructure projects, Lawrence Lubiano, owner and president of Centerways Construction and Development Inc., admitted that he contributed P30 million to the campaign of Sen. Francis Escudero, a fellow native from Sorsogon province.
Centerways is among the top 15 contractors of government flood control projects from 2022 to 2025, a list that President Marcos bared in August.
The Comelec has also issued a show cause order on Escudero due to the donation of Centerways, one of 55 contractors under the poll body’s investigation.
Lubiano had appeared before the poll body and reiterated that he made the donation in his “personal capacity” as a “friend,” according to Garcia.
Escudero, who admitted he received Lubiano’s donation, is expected to appear before the Comelec on Oct. 13 in line with the Comelec’s show cause order.
Garcia clarified that Escudero was not being singled out in the poll body’s investigation.
Exemption
“The truth is, their case came out first because there is an admission from the public works contractor that the P30 million was provided and the P30 million was received,” he said.
Garcia said contractors donating to politicians were not necessarily violating the law.
Section 95(c) of the Omnibus Election Code prohibits campaign contributions from natural and juridical persons who hold contracts or subcontracts to supply the government—or any of its divisions, subdivisions, or instrumentalities—with goods or services, or to perform construction or other works.
Private contractors, however, are not included in this prohibition.
Garcia said the Comelec was waiting for feedback from the Department of Public Works and Highways to determine if the contractors that appeared in the Soces were involved in government projects.
He noted that some of the 55 contractors under their investigation operate in industries, such as glass and aluminum, trade, and real estate—classified under the private sector.
“A realty corporation could have built subdivisions and condominiums and may not be necessarily involved as government and public works contractors,” Garcia said. “If that is the case, then they are not covered in the provisions of the Omnibus Election Code.”
He said these contractors contributed to the campaigns of candidates for president and vice president, for members of the House of Representatives, and for governors and vice governors.
Garcia declined to identify the contractors, saying “At this point, it’s very unfair if we reveal the 54 and they turned out to be private contractors.”
