Philippines: As public ire boils over, more cans of worms opened as Escudero, Romualdez clash over flood control scam

Manila: As public anger boils over a spiralling corruption scandal involving fake projects, mudslinging has intensified between former top legislative leaders Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez and Senator Francis Escudero.

Both traded harsh accusations tied to the massive flood control kickbacks that have shaken the nation.

The feud between former top legislative leaders has become a full-blown word war. On Monday, Escudero had accused Romualdez of orchestrating a “zarzuela” (a theatrical scheme) to divert attention from the scandal and protect himself.

Escudero (former Senate President), attacked Romualdez (former House Speaker) for using “for-later-release” (FLR) funds and President Ferdinand "BBM" Marcos Jr’s name to pressure House members into signing an unconstitutional impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte ahead of the 2025 elections.

“Ginamit ni Martin Romualdez ang FLR at ang pangalan ni Pangulong Marcos upang itulak ang kanilang unconstitutional na impeachment complaint... pumirma kayo! Dahil kung hindi, hindi ilalabas ang inyong pondo na naka-FLR bago mag eleksyon,” Escudero said. (Romualdez used FLR funds and President Marcos’s name to push the impeachment complaint, saying funds wouldn’t be released unless members complied.)

Escudero said President Marcos rejected the plan, keeping funds under FLR.

Romualdez, for his part, denied the claims. He called Escudero’s speech a “DDS (Duterte Death Squad) script” — recycled accusations often seen on troll pages.

He said Escudero’s remarks were less about accountability and more about positioning as Vice President Duterte’s ally for 2028.

“Ang tunay na pinagsisilbihan ay hindi ang katotohanan, kundi ang sariling interes at plano sa politika,” he said (What is truly served isn’t truth, but personal interest and political plans).

Former House committee chair Terry Ridon, meanwhile, rejected Escudero’s claims that the committee probing flood control anomalies was scripted to malign him or others.

Ridon emphasised that all involved officials, including President Marcos and Vice President Duterte, must be held accountable when implicated.

“With due respect, what ‘script’ are you talking about?” Ridon said in response to Escudero’s privilege speech on Monday in which he implicated former House Speaker Martin Romualdez and other lawmakers into 2025 budget anomalies. “And like you said yourself, if others are guilty of the same practice, they too must be investigated and held accountable,” Ridon added.

The scandal implicates several lawmakers, including Romualdez and former Ako Bicol Representative Zaldy Co, accused of receiving millions in kickbacks disguised as cash-filled suitcases to manipulate flood control project budgets.

Brice Hernandez, a dismissed assistant district engineer, alleged having delivered P1 billion ($17.22 million) in cash to Co’s aides, with kickbacks innocuously called "obligasyon" (obligation).

Co also faces graft charges over a flood control project in Oriental Mindoro linked to his company, Sunwest Inc.

During Senate hearings, former DPWH Undersecretary Roberto Bernardo named Escudero, as well as former Senators Nancy Binay and Bong Revilla, among others, as beneficiaries of kickbacks from flood control projects.

Escudero has denied Bernardeo's claims, threatening legal action for “malicious allegations.”

Escudero has earlier admitted to receiving donations from a contractor, a fact backed by official documents, and the reason why the Justice Department has recommended his prosecution, alongside other senators.

Under Philippine law (Section 95c of the Election Code), “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” are prohibited from making campaign donations “for purposes of partisan political activity.”

This public sparring further exposes the dark underbelly behind the scandal, with serious questions looming over the integrity of government funding and congressional manoeuvring which has kicked up the public's ire.